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AN 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 



OF 



Groton, Massachusetts. 

1655-1890. 



BY 



SAMUEL A. GREEN. 



GROTON: 
1894. 












s 






Eo tjje fHnnoru 

OF 

GEORGE DEXTER BRIGHAM 

(Town Clerk, 1855-1893), 

A LIFE-LONG FRIEND AND NEIGHBOR IN MY NATIVE TOWN. 

WHO OFTEN GAVE MOST CHEERFUL HELP IN MY 

LOCAL INVESTIGATIONS, 

THIS SKETCH IS INSCRIBE!). 



PREFACE 



T 



HE following pages were written originally 
for a "History of Middlesex County," 
published in Philadelphia four years ago ; and a 
few copies were then separately struck off. They 
were intended merely as a sketch of the town, 
and not as a full or formal history. In justice to 
the writer this statement seems to be necessary, 
as the annals of Groton, so rich in material, and 
covering so long a period of time, are here 
treated in a very scanty way. Through some 
misunderstanding the work was not divided 
into Chapters, as had been the intention of the 
author, who had no opportunity to see the revised 
proofs. 

With the exception of the notice of Major 
Palmer, the brief biographies at the end of the 
book were not written by the author of this His- 
torical Sketch. Luther Blood, a notice of whom 
there appears, died on September 22, 1893. 

S. A. G. 
Boston, March 16. 1894. 



AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

OF THE 

TOWN OF GROTON. 1 



The town of Groton lies in the northwestern part 
of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and is bounded 
on the north by Pepperell and Dunstable ; on the east 
by Tyngsborough and Westford ; on the south by Lit- 
tleton and Aver; and on the west by Shirley and 
Townsend. The First Parish meeting-house— or " the 
tall-spired church"— is situated in latitude 42° 36 / 
21A // north, longitude 71° 34' 4" west of Greenwich, 
according to the latest observations of the United 
States Coast Survey. It is distant nearly thirty-one 
miles in a straight line from the State House at Bos- 
ton, but by the traveled road it is about thirty-four 
miles. The village of Groton is situated principally 
on one long' street, known as Main Street, a section 
of the Great Road, which was formerly one of the 
principal thoroughfares between Eastern Massachu- 
setts and parts of New Hampshire and Vermont. 
The Worcester, Nashua and Rochester Railroad passes 



i Reprinted from "The History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts. 

1 



2 GROTON. 

through it, and traverses the township at nearly its 
greatest length, running six miles or more within its 
limits. It is reached from Boston by trains on the 
Fitchburg Railroad, connecting with the Worcester, 
Nashua and Rochester road at Ayer, three miles dis- 
tant from the village. 

The original grant of the township was made in the 
spring of 1655, and gave to the proprietors a tract of 
land eight miles square; though subsequently this 
was changed by the General Court, so that its shape 
varied somewhat from the first plan. It comprised all 
of what is now Groton and Ayer, nearly all of Pepperell 
and Shirley, large parts of Dunstable and Littleton, 
and smaller parts of Harvard and Westford, in Mas- 
sachusetts, and small portions of Hollis and Nashua, 
in New Hampshire. The present shape of the town 
is very irregular, and all the original boundary lines 
have been changed except where they touch Town- 
send and Tyngsborough. 

The earliest reference to the town on any map is 
found in the Reverend William Hubbard's " Narra- 
tive of the Troubles with the Indians in New-Eng- 
land," a work published at Boston in the early spring 
of 1677, and in London during the ensuing summer 
under a different title. The map was the first one cut 
in New England, and of course done in a crude man- 
ner. It was engraved probably by John Foster, the 
earliest Boston printer. The towns assaulted by the 
Indians in Philip's War are indicated on the map by 
figures; and at that period these places were attract- 
ing some attention both here and in the mother 
country. 



GROTON. 3 

There were two petitions for the plantation of 
Groton, of which one was headed by Mr. Deane 
Winthrop, and the other by Lieutenant William 
Martin. The first one is not known to be in exist- 
ence, but a contemporaneous copy of the second is in 
the possession of the New England Historic Genea- 
logical Society. The signatures vary in the style of 
handwriting, but they do not appear to be autographs, 
and may have been written by the same person. The 
answer to the petition is given on the third page of 
the paper, and signed by Edward Rawson, secretary 
of the Colony, which fact renders it probable that this 
is the petition actually presented to the General Court 
as the original one, after it had been copied by a 
skillful penman. It was found many years ago among 
the papers of Captain Samuel Shepley, by the late 
Charles Woolley, then of Groton, but who subse- 
quently lived at Waltham; and by him given to the 
New England Historic Genealogical Society. The 
petition is written on the first page of a folio sheet, 
and the answer by the General Court appears on the 
third page of the paper. Near the top of the sheet 
are the marks of stitches, indicating that another 
paper at one time had been fastened to it. Perhaps 
the petition headed by Deane Winthrop was attached 
when the secretary wrote the action of the General 
Court, beginning, "In Ans r to both theise peticons." 
The grant of the plantation was made by the Court 
of Assistants on May 25, 1655— as appears by this 
document — though subject to the consent of the 
House of Deputies, which was given, in all proba- 
bility, on the same day. In the absence of other evi- 



4 GROTON. 

dence, this may be considered the date of the incor- 
poration, which is not found mentioned elsewhere. 

In the early history of the Colony the proceedings 
of the General Court, as a rule, were not dated day 
by day — though there are many exceptions — but the 
beginning of the session is always given, and occa- 
sionally the days of the month are recorded. These 
dates in the printed edition of the records are fre- 
quently carried along without authority, sometimes 
covering a period of several days or even a week; 
and for this reason it is often impossible to learn the 
exact date of any particular legislation, when there 
are no contemporaneous papers bearing on the subject. 

The petition and endorsement are as follows : 

" To the honored Generall Courte assembled at Boston the humble pe- 
tion of vs whose names ar here vnder written humbly shoeth 

"That where as youre petioners by a prouidence of god haue beene 
brought oner into this wildernes and liued longe herein: and being 
sumthing straightned for that where by subsistance in an ordinarie 
waie of gods prouidence is to be had, and Considdering the a lowance 
that god giues to the sunes of men for such an ende : youre petioners 
request there fore is that you would be pleased to grant vs a place for a 
plantation vpon the Riuer that runes from Nashaway in tomerimake at 
a place or a boute a place Caled petaupaubett and waubansconcett and 
youre petioners shall pray for youre happy prosedings 

" William Martin 
Richard Blood 
John Witt 
WlLIiI»M Lakin 

Richard Hauen 
Timothy Cooper 
John Lakin 
John Blood 
Mathu Farrington 
Robert Blood 



GROTON. 5 

" In Ans r to both theise peticons The Court Judgeth it nieete to 
graunt the peticone r s eight miles square in the place desired to make, a 
Comfortable planta^on wch henceforth shall be Called Groaten forme r ly 
knowne by the name of Petapawage : that M r Dam forth of Cambridge 
\\ Tt h such as he shall Asossiate to him shall and hereby is desired to lay 
it out wi ( h all Convergent speede that so no Incouragement may be 
wanting to the Peticone r s for a speedy procuring of a godly minister 
amongst them. Provided that none shall enjoy any part or porr-on of 
that land by guift from the selectmen of that place but such who shall 
build hovvses on theire lotts so given them once \v*hin eighteene months 
from the tjme of the sayd Tovvnes laying out or Townes graunt to such 
persons ; and for the p r sent M r Deane Wintbrop M r Jn° Tinker M r Tho : 
Hinckly Dolor Davis. W m . Martin Mathew ffarington John Witt and 
Timothy Couper are Appointed the selectmen for the sayd Towne of 
Groaten for one two yeares from the tjme it is layd out, to lay out 
and dispose cf particular lotts not exceeding twenty acres to each bowse 
lott, And to Order the prudentiall affairs of tbe place at the end of which 
tjme other selectmen shall be chosen and Appointed in theire roomes : 
the selectmen of Groaton giving M r Danforth such sattisfaction for his 
service & paines as they & he shall Agree ; 

" The magist s haue passed this w% reference to the Consent of theire 
bretheren the depths hereto 

" Edward Rawson, Secrety 

" 25 of May 1655. 

" The Deputies Consent hereto 

" William Torrey Cleric." 

The entry made by Secretary Eawson in the Gen- 
eral Court Records, at the time of the grant, is sub- 
stantially the same as his indorsement on Martin's 
petition, though it distinguishes between some of tbe 
names signed to each petition. It is evident that the 
one headed by Deane Winthrop was also signed by 
John Tinker and Thomas Hinckley ; and probably 
by Dolor Davis, Richard Smith and Amos Richard- 
son, as is inferred from a petition dated May 16, 
1656, and given later in this account of the town. 
The Roman letters and Arabic figures within paren- 
theses refer to the volume and page of the General 



6 GROTON. 

Court Records at the State- House. The entry is as 
follows : 

" In Ans r to the peticon of M r Deane Winthrop M r Jn° Tincker Mr 
Tho: Hinckly &c & of Lieu Wm Martin Timothy Cooper Ac The Court 
Judgeth it raeete to Graunt etc." (IV. 204). 

Charles Hastings Gerrish, of Groton, has a contem- 
poraneous copy of this record made by Secretary 
Rawson, which was perhaps sent originally to the 
selectmen of the town. It was found among the pa- 
pers of the late Hon. John Boynton, at one time town 
clerk. 

The record of the House of Deputies is also prac- 
tically the same, though there are a few verbal vari- 
ations. It begins : 

"There beinge a pet. prferd by M r Dean Winthrop Mr Tho: Hinck- 
ley & divers others for a plantation vpon the riuer that Runs from Nash- 
away into Merimacke called petapawage & an other from some of the 
Inhabitants of Concord for a plantation in the same place to both which 
the Court returned this answer that the Court Thinkes meet to graunt 
etc." (III. 462). 

The following letter from the Hon. J. Hammond 
Trumbull, whose authority in such matters is unques- 
tioned, gives the meaning and derivation of the In- 
dian name of the town : 

" Hartford, Dec. 22, 1877. 

"My dear Dr. Green, — Pelaupaulcet and Petapawage are two forms 
of the same name, the former having the locative postposition (-et), 
meaning 'at 'or ' on ' a place ; and both are corruptions of one or the 
other of two Indian names found at several localities in New England. 
From which of the two your Groton name came I cannot decide without 
Borne knowledge of the place itself. I leave you the choice, confident 
that one or the other is the true name. 

" ' PootuppogJ used by Eliot for ' bay,' in Joshua xv. 2, 5, literally 
means 'spreading' or ' bulging water,' and was employed to designate 
either a local widening of a river making still water, or an inlet from a 
river expandiDg into something like a pond or lake. Hence the name 



GROTOX. 7 

of a part of (old) Saybrook, now Essex, Conn., which was variously writ- 
ten Pantapaug, Poattapoge, Potabauge, and, later, Pettipaug, &c, so des- 
ignated from a spreading cove or inlet from Connecticut River. Potto- 
poug Pond, in Dana, Mass., with an outlet to, or rather an inlet from 
Chicopee River, is probably a form of the same name. So is ' Port To- 
bacco,' Charles County, Md. (the 'Potopaco ' of John Smith's map), on 
the Potomac. 

" But there is another Algonkiu name from which Petaupauk and 
some similar forms may have come, which denotes a swamp, bog, or 
quagmire, — literally, a place into which the foot sinks; represented by the 
Chippew&y petobeg, a bog or soft marsh, and the Abnaki potepaug. There 
is a Pautipaug (otherw.se Pootapaug, Portipaug, Patapogue, etc.) in the 
town of Sprague. Conn., on or near the Shetucket River, which seems 
to have this derivation. 

"If there was in (ancient) Groton a pond or spreading cove, connected 
with the Nashua, Squannacook, Nissitisset, 01 other stream, or a pond- 
like enlargement or ' bulge ' of a stream, this may, without much doubt, 
be accepted as the origin of the name. If there is none such, the name 
probably came from some ' watery swamp,' like those into which (as the 
' Wonder-workiug Providence' relates) the first explorers of Concord 
' sunke, into an uncertaine bottome in water, and waded up to their 

knees.' 

" Yours truly, 

" J. Hammond Trumbull." 

The last suggestion, that the name came from an 
Algonkin word signifying "swamp" or "bog," ap- 
pears to be the correct one. There are many bog 
meadows, of greater or less extent, in different parts 
of the town. Two of the largest — one situated on 
the easterly side of the village, and known as Half- 
Moon Meadow, and the other on the westerly side, 
and known as Broad Meadow, each containing per- 
haps a hundred acres of land — are now in a state of 
successful cultivation. Before they were drained and 
improved they would have been best described as 
swamps or bogs. 

It is to be regretted that so many of the Indian 
words, which have a local significance and smack of 



O GROTON. 

the region, should have been crowded out of the list 
of geographical names in Massachusetts. However 
much such words may have been twisted and distort- 
ed by English pronunciation and misapplication, 
they furnish now one of the few links that connect 
the present period with prehistoric times in America. 
" Nashaway," mentioned in the petition, is the old 
name of Lancaster, though spelled in different ways. 
Mr. Trumbull has given some interesting facts in re- 
gard to this Indian word, which I copy from a paper 
by him in the second volume of the " Collections of 
the Connecticut Historical Society : " 

" Nashaue (Chip[pewa], ndssawaii and ashaiviwi), 'mid-way,' or 
'between,' and with ohke or auk added, the 'land between ' or 'the 
half-way place,' — was the name of several localities. The tract on 
which Lancaster, in Worcester county (Mass.) was settled, was ' be- 
tween' the branches of the river, and so it was called 'Nashaway ' 
or ' Nashawake ' (nashaut-ohke) ; and this name was afterwards trans- 
ferred from the territory to the river itself. There was another Nasha- 
way in Connecticut, between Quinebaug and Five-Mile Rivers in 
Windham county, and here, too, the mutilated name of the nashaue-ohke 
was transferred, as Ashawog or Assawog, to the Five-Mile River. Nat- 
chaug, in the same county, the name of the eastern branch of Shetuck- 
et river, belonged originally to the tract ' between ' the eastern and 
western branches; and the Shetucket itself borrows a name [nashaue- 
luk-ut) from its place • between ' Yantic and Quinebaug rivers 
(page 33)." 

The town is indebted for its name to Deane Win- 
throp, a son of Governor John Winthrop and one of 
the petitioners for the grant. He was born at Gro- 
ton, in the county of Suffolk, England, on March 16, 
1622-23 ; and the love of his native place prompted 
him to perpetuate its name in New England. He 
stands at the head of the first list of selectmen ap- 
pointed by the General Court, and for a short time 



GROTON. 9 

was probably a resident of the town. At the age of 
exactly eighty-one years he died, on March 16, 1703-04, 
at Pullen Point, now within the limits of Winthrop, 
Massachusetts. 

The following letter, written by a distinguished 
representative of the family, will be read with in- 
terest : 

" Boston, 27 February, 1878. 

" My dear Dr. Green,— It would give me real pleasure to aid you in 
establishing the relations of Deann Winthrop to the town of Gro- 
ton in Massachusetts. But there are only three or four letters of 
Deane's among the family papers in my possession, and not one of 
them is dated Groton. Nor can I find in any of the family papers a 
distinct reference to his residence there. 

"There are, however, two brief notes of his, both dated 'the 16 of 
December, 1662,' which I cannot help thinking may have been writ- 
ten at Groton. One of them is addressed to his brother John, the Gov- 
ernor of Connecticut, who was then in London, on business connected 
with the Charter of Connecticut. In this note, Deane says as fol- 
lows : 

" ' I have some thoughts of removing from the place that I now live 
in, into your Colony, if I could lit of a convenient place. The place 
that I now live in is too little for me, my children now growing up.' 

"We know that Deane Winthrop was at the head of the first Board of 
Selectmen at Groton a few years earlier, and that he went to reside of 
Pullen Point, now called Winthrop, not many years after. 

"I am strongly inclined to think with you that this note of December, 

1662, was written at Groton. 

" Yours very truly, 

" Robert C. Winthrop. 
" Samuel A. Green, M.D." 

A few years before the incorporation of the town, 
Emanuel Downing, of Salem, who married Lucy, a 
sister of Governor John Winthrop, had a very large 
farm which he called Groton. It was situated in 
what was afterward South Danvers, but now Peabody, 
on the old road leading from Lynn to Ipswich, and 
thus named, says Upham, in his "Salem Witchcraft," 



10 GROTON. 

"in dear remembrance of his wife's ancestral home in 
'the old country"' (I. 43). Downing subsequently- 
sold it to his nephews, John Winthrop, Jr., and Adam 
Winthrop, on July 23, 1644, when he speaks of it as 
"his farme of Groton." The sale is duly recorded in 
the Suffolk Eegistry of Deeds (I. 57). 

Groton in Connecticut — younger than this town by 
just half a century, and during the Revolution the 
scene of the heroic Ledyard's death — was named in 
the year 1705, during the Governorship of Fitz-John 
Winthrop, out of respect to the Suffolk home of the 
family. 

New Hampshire has a Groton, in Grafton County, 
which was called Cockermouth when first settled in 
the year 1766. Subsequently, however, the name was 
changed by an act of the Legislature, in accordance 
with the unanimous wish of the inhabitants who ap- 
proved it, on December 7, 1796. Some of its early 
settlers were from Hollis, New Hampshire, and others 
from this town. 

Vermont, also, has a Groton, in Caledonia County, 
which received its charter on October 20, 1789, though 
it was settled a short time before. A history of the 
town, written by General Albert Harleigh Hill, ap- 
peared in Miss Abby Maria Hemenway's " Vermont 
Historical Gazeteer" (IV. 1145-1168). Taken bodily 
from this work, a pamphlet edition was also pub- 
lished, with some slight variations, but with the same 
paging. The author says : 

'• It received the name of Groton through the influence of its earliest 
settlers, who were born in Groton, Mass. These sterling old patriots 
who, mid all the stirring activity of those days, forgot not the old 
birthtown, but hallowed its memory by giving its name to their new 
settlement and town in the wilderness" (page 1145). 



. GROTON. 11 

New York, too, has a town called Groton, situated 
in Tompkins County ; and Professor Marvin Morse 
Baldwin, in an historical sketch of the place, pub- 
lished in the year 1858, gives the reason for so nam- 
ing it. He says : 

" At first, the part of Locke thus set off was called Division ; but the 
next year [1818] it was changed to Groton, on the petition of the in- 
habitants of the town, some of whom had moved from Groton, Mass., 
and some from Groton, Ct., thoujrh a few desired the name of York " 



There is also a Groton in Erie County, Ohio. It is sit- 
uated #n that part of the State known as the fire lands, 
and so called after the Connecticut town. The name 
was originally Wheatsborough, and its first settlement 
was made in the year 1809. 

The latest place aspiring to the honor of the name 
is in Brown County, South Dakota, which was laid 
out six or eight years ago on land owned by the Chi- 
cago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company. I 
am informed that various New England names were 
selected by the company and given to different town- 
ships, not.for personal or individual reasons, but be- 
cause they were short and well sounding, and unlike 
any others in that State. 

In the middle of the last century — according to the 
New England Historical and Genealogical Register 
(XXIV. 56 note, and 60) for January, 1870— there 
was a place in Roxbury sometimes called Groton. 
It was a corruption of Greaton, the name of the man 
who kept the " Grey Hound " tavern in that neigh- 
borhood. 

Groton, in England, is an ancient place ; it is the 
same as the Grotena of Domesday Book, in which 



1 2 GROTON. 

there is a record of the population and wealth of the 
town, in some detail, at the time of William the Con- 
queror, and also before him, under the Anglo-Saxon 
King, Edward the Confessor. A literal translation of 
this census-return of the year 1086 is as follows : 

" In the time of King Edward [the Abbot of] Saint Edmund held Gro- 
ton for a manor, there being one carucate and- a half of land. Always 
[there have been] eight villeins and five bordarii [a rather higher sort 
of serfs ; cotters]. Always [there has been] one plouugh in demesne. Al- 
ways two ploughs belonging to homagers [tenants], and one acre of mead- 
ow. Woodland for ten hogs. A mill serviceable in winter. Always 
one work -horse, six cattle, and sixteen hogs, and thirty sheep. Two free 
men of half a carucate of land, and they could give away and sell their 
land. Six bordarii. Always one plough, and one acre of meadow [belong- 
ing to these bordarii]. It was then [i. e., under King Edward] worth 
thirty shillings, and now valued at forty. It is seven furlongs in length 
and four in breadth. In the same, twelve free men, and they have one 
carucate ; it is worth twenty shillings. These men could give away and 
sell their land in the time of the reign of King Edward. [The Abbot 
of ] Saint Edmuud has the soc, protection and servitude. Its gelt is 
seven pence, but others hold there." 

This extract is taken from the fac-simile repro- 
duction of the part of Domesday Book relating to 
Suffolk (page clviii), which was published at the 
Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, in the year 
1863. The text is in Latin, and the words are much 
abbreviated. The writing is peculiar and hard to de- 
cipher. The same entry is found, in printed char- 
acters, in the second volume of Domesday Book 
(page 359. b.), published in the year 1783. 

Some idea of the condensed character of the record 
may be gathered from the following copy of the 
beginning of the description of Groton, in which the 
matter within the brackets is what the Norman 
scrivener omitted : " Grotenii, [m] t.[empore] r.[egis] 



GROTON. 13 

e.[dvardi] teri[uit] S.[anctus] e.[dmundus] p[ro] 
man.[erio] " etc. A carucate was " a plough land," 
or a farm that could be kept under tillage with one 
plough. It is variously estimated at from twelve 
acres to a hundred. 

It is curious to note the different ways which the 
early settlers had of spelling the name; and the same 
persons took little or no care to write it uniformly. 
Among the documents and papers that I have ex- 
amined in collecting material for a history of the 
town, I find it spelled in twenty-one different ways, 
viz : Groton, Grotton, Groten, Grotten, Grotin, Groa- 
ten, Groatne, Groaton, Groatton, Grooton, Grorton, 
Grouten, Grouton, Groughton, Grow ton, Growtin, 
Groyton, Grauton, Grawten, Grawton and Croaton. 
From the old spelling of the word, it may be inferred 
that the pronunciation varied ; but at the present 
time natives of the town and those " to the manner 
born " pronounce it Grdw-ton. This method appears 
to hold good in England, as the Eeverend John W. 
Wayman, rector of the parent town, writes me, under 
date of August 13, 1879, "That the local pro- 
nunciation is decidedly Graw-ton. The name of the 
parish is described in old records as Grotton, or 
Growton." I learn from trustworthy correspondents 
in all the American towns of the name, that the 
common pronunciation of the word in each one of 
them is Grdw-ton. With the exception of the town 
in South Dakota, I have visited all these places, in- 
cluding the one in England, and my observation con- 
firms the statement. 

The following paragraph is taken from the Gro- 



14 GROTON. 

ton Mercury, of June, 1851, a monthly newspaper 
edited by the late George Henry Brown, postmaster 
at that time : 

",We have noticed amongst the mass of letters received at our Post 
Office, the word Groton spelled in the following different ways : Grot- 
ton, Grawton, Graton, Grotown, Groutown, Growtown, Growtan, Grow- 
ten, Growton, Gratan, Grattan, Grewton, Grothan, Graten, Groten, 
Grouton." 

The daily life of the founders of Massachusetts 
would be to us now full of interest, but unfortunately 
little is known in regard to it. The early settlers were 
pious folk, and believed in the literal interpretation 
of the Scriptures. They worked hard during six days 
of the week, and kept Sunday with rigid exactness. 
The clearing of forests and the breaking up of land 
left little leisure for the use of pen and paper ; and 
letter- writing, as we understand it, was not generally 
practiced. They lived at a time when printing was 
not common and post-offices were unknown. Their 
lives were one ceaseless struggle for existence ; and 
there was no time or opportunity to cultivate those 
graces now considered so essential. Keligion was 
with them a living, ever-present power ; and in that 
channel went out all those energies which with us 
find outlet in many different directions. These con- 
siderations should modify the opinions commonly held 
in regard to the Puritan fathers. 

The sources of information relating to the early 
history of Groton are few and scanty. It is only here 
and there in contemporaneous papers that we find 
any allusions to the plantation ; and from these we 
obtain but glimpses of the new settlement. The 
earliest document connected with the town after its 



GROTON. 15 

incorporation is a petition now among the Shattuek 
Manuscripts, in the possession of the New England 
Historic Genealogical Society, which contains some 
interesting facts not elsewhere given. All the signa- 
tures are in the same handwriting as the body of the 
document; but those of the committee signing there- 
port on the back of the petition are autographs. The 
report itself is in the hand of Joseph Hills. The doc- 
ument is as follows : 

"Bosf : 16 :3m»: 1656 

"To the Eight Wo' 11 the Gou r no r the wo,' 1 ' Deput Go r no r and Magis- 
trates with the Worthy Deputies of this Hono rd Court 

"The humble Peticon of Certein the intended Inhabitants of Groten, 

" Humbly Sheweth 

"Thatyo 1 Peticon" hauing obteined theire Request of a Plantacon 
from this honored Court, they haue made Entranc thervppon, and do 
Resolue by the Gracious Assistants of the Lord to proceed in the same 
(though the greatest Number of Peticon 1 " 3 for the Grant haue declyued 
the work) yet because of the Remotenees of the place, & Considering 
how heavy and slowe it is like to be Carried an end and with what 
Charge and difficultie it will be Attended yo r Peticon" humble Requests 
are 

" 1 That they be not nominated or included in the Country taxes 
vntil the full end of three years from these p, r nts : (in which time they 
Account theire expenc will be great to the building a house, procureing 
and maintaining of a minester &c, with all other nessessary Town 
Charges: they being but few at present left to Carry on the whole 
worke) and at the end of the term, shall be redy by gods help to yeald 
thei r Rates according to thei r Number & abillitie & what shall be im- 
posed, vppon them 

"2 That they may haue libertie to make Choyce of an other then M> 
Danford for the Laying out their town bounds because of his desire to 
be excused by reason of his vrgent ocations otherwise, & that they be 
not strictly tyed to a square forme in their Line Laying out 

"So shall yo r Peticon." be incoridgedin this great work, and shall as, 
duty bindes pray for yo r happiness and thankfully Rest 

yo r humble Servants 
"Dean Winthropp Ja°. Tinker 
Dolor Davis Richard Smith Jn<>. Lakln 

Will. Martin Robert Blood Amose Richenson 



16 GROTON. 

"In Ans. to this Peticon wee Conceiue it needfull that the Town of 
Groton be freed from Hates for three years from the time of their Grant 
as is desired. 

"2 d That they may Imploy any other known Artist in the room of 
M r Danfort as need shall be. 

"3 d That the forme of the Towne may A little varie from A due 
Square According to the discrecon of the Comitte. 

"21. 3 d m°. (56) "Daniel Gookin 

Joseph Hills 
John Wiswall 
"The Deputyes approue of the returne of the Comittee in answer 
to this petitio & desire the Consent of o r hone rd magists. hereto 

' ; William Toreev Clerke 
" Consented to by the magists 

" Edwakd Rawson Secret 
"[Indorsed for filing :] Grotens Peticon | Entrd & X s secured p d 8 | 
1656" 

The next document, in point of time, connected 
with the history of Groton is a petition to the Gen- 
eral Court from John Tinker, one of the original se- 
lectmen of the town. It is dated October, 1659, and 
preserved amoDg the Massachusetts Archives (CXII. 
120) at the State-House. In this petition Tinker 
makes some indirect charges against his townsmen, 
of which the real nature can now be learned only by 
inference. It would seem that they had taken land 
in an unauthorized manner, and their proceedings in 
other respects had obstructed the planting of the 
town ; and that he felt aggrieved in consequence of 
such action. Evidently the new plantation did not 
prosper during the first few years of its settlement. 
The petition reads thus : 

" Boston To the Hono rd Gen ril Court Assembled at Boston 

8 m° The humble Petition of Jn° Tinker 

1659 Humbly Sheweth that 

" With vnfained Respect to the good and welfare of Church and Com- 
monwealth yo r Petitioner hath endeauored to answer the expectation 



GROTON. 17 

and desires of this hono rd Court and the whole Countrey In erecting set- 
ling and Carying an End the Afaires of Groaton, Grunted and intended 
by this hono rd Court for a plantation, which notwithstanding (all in 
vaine) it Continueth vnpeopled and soe Like to remaine vnless by this 
hono rd Court some wise and Juditious Comitte be impowered to order 
and dispose of all things there about, after which no doubt it will goeon 
and prosper, which is the humble desire and Request of yo. r Petitioner 
that soe it may be, and that yo r Petitioner be admitted and appoynted 
faithfully to declare vnto and informe the said Comitte, 1 what hath 
allredy bin done, 2 what are the Grounds and Reasons wherefore it Re- 
mainethat the stay it doeth. being so much desired by so many and such 
Considerable persons as it is, ami 3 what bee Conceuith needfull to the 
further Continuing what is done according to Right to every person & 
Cause, and the setleing such due order as may incoridg the Carying on 
of all things to a prosperous effect, vnto which yo r Petitioner shall redyly 
adress himselfe, as willing to submitt to the good pleasure of this hon rd 
Court & such Authorized by them for such due satisfacon for all his 
Care time cost & paines in and about the said plantation as shall be 
thought meete and humbly begging the good fauo r of god to Rest vppon 
you shall ever Remaine to the hono rd Court and Country 

" Yo r humble Serv' Jn<>. Tinker 

" The comittee haveing prsed this peticcon, do Judge y' it wilbe very 
convenient that a Comittee of 3 : or more meet persons be nominated 
& impowred to Examine the pticulars therein mencconed. and make 
returne of w* they find to the Court of Eleccon. 

" Thomas Danforth 
Anthony Stoddard 
Roger Clap 
" 21. (8) 59. The Depu' approue of the ret. of y e Comitee in answ : 
hereto & haue Nominated M r Danforth M r Ephraim Child Cap 4 . Edw : 
Johnson to be their Committee desireing o r Hono rd magists [consent] 

hereto 

" William Torrey Cleric. 

" Consented to by y« magists Edw Rawson Secrety " 

It appears from the writing on it that Tinker's peti- 
tion was referred to a special committee, who recom- 
mended that the whole matter be considered by 
another committee with larger powers, who should 
report to the Court of Election. In accordance with 



18 GROTON. 

this recommendation, Mr. Thomas Danforth, Captain 
Edward Johnson and Ephraim Child were appointed 
such a committee. I have here given their names 
in the order in which they are mentioned in the 
General Court "Records (IV. 324), and not as they 
appear in the approval of the committee's return on 
the petition. The original report, made eighteen 
months afterwards and duly signed by them, is 
now among the Shattuck Manuscripts of the New 
England Historic Genealogical Society. It is dated 
May 23, 166L (" 23 (3) 1661 "), and bears the official 
action of the Hou?e of Deputies and of the magis- 
trates. Edward Eawson, the secretary, made his 
entry on the paper May 29, 1661. In copying the 
document I have followed the General Court Records, 
as this version of the petition contains fewer abbre- 
viations and contractions. The record-book has been 
paged differently at three separate times ; and the 
paging marked in red ink has been taken in this 
copy. The "Committees Keturne ab 1 Groaten & 
Courts ordr " are as follows : 

"Wee whose names are subscribed being Appointed & impowrd by 
the Generall Court in octobe r 1659 for the examination of the proceed- 
ings about Groten plantation & the Intanglements that haue obstructed 
the planting thereof hitherto=hauing taking pajnes to travajle vnto the 
sajd place & examine the Records of fprme r proceedings in that plase as 
also the Capacity of the s d place for the enterteining of a meet noumber 
of persons that may Carry on the affairs of a Toune, doe App r hend (ac- 
cording to w< Information we haue had) that the place will Affoord a 
comfortable accommodation for sixty familjes at least that may subsist in a 
way of husbandry=And for such familyes as be there already planted w oh 
are not aboue four or five acres 1 wee doe not finde theire Interest in such 

1 The word "acres" occurs at the end of aline in the manuscript 
records, and appears to be an interpolation. The sense does not require 



GROTON. 1 9 

lands as they claime is legall & Just nor yet consistant w*t> the Courts 
ends in their graunt of the sajd plantation. 

" And for the further encouragement of such as haue now a desire 
&c doe present themselvs as williug to plant themselves in that 
place, 

" Wee craue leaue humbly to leaue our poore app r hentions w th this 
Honored Court as followeth 

" 1 That the old planters & their Assignes whose names are John 
Tincker Eich : Smith. ff m Martjn. Ri: blood Rob 1 Blood & Jn<> Lakin 
that they reteine & keep as theire propriety, (of such lands as they now 
clajme an Interest in) each of them only twenty acres of meadow twenty 
acres for the house lott ten acres Intervale land & tenn acres of other 
vplands & that the same be sett out by a Comittee so as may not vn- 
equally prejudice such as are or maybe their Neighbo^ 

" 2 That the neere lands & meadows, be so diuided as may accomodate 
at least sixty familjes & for that end That the first diuision of lands be 
made in manner following viz 4 such as haue one hundred & fifty pounds 
estate be allowed equall w th the old planters aboue & that none exceed 
& that none haue lesse then tenn acres for theire houselott & five acres of 
meadow two & a halfe acres of Intervale & two & a half of other lands 
for planting lotts in their first divission & that none be admitted to haue 
graunts of lotts there but on Condition 3 following viz* 

"1 That they Qoe vp. w<* theire familjes w'Mn 2 years after theire 
graunts, on penalty of forfeiting theire graunts againe to the Towne & 
so many tenn shillings as they had acres Graunted them for theire 
houselotts & that the like Injunction be putt vpon those aboue named 
as old planters. 

"2 That all towne charges both Civil & Eccleasiasticall be levyed ac- 
cording to each mans Graunt in this first divition of lands for seuen 
years next Ensuing Excepting only such whose stocks of Catle shall 
exceed one hundred & fifty pounds estates. 

" 3 That the power of Admission of Inhabitants & Regulating the af- 
faires of the sajd place be referred to a Comittee of meete persons Im- 
powred by this Court thereto, Vntil the plantation be in some good meas- 
ure (at least) filled w* Inhabitants & be enabled regularly & peaceably 
to Carry on y e same themselves 

" 4 That this 'honoured Court be pleased to graunt them Imunitjes 
[from] all Comon & Ordinary Country charges not exceeding a single 
rate or a Rate & a half p Annu for three years next ensuing. 

it, and the original copy in the library of the New-England Historic, 
Genealogical Society does not contain it, though the printed edition of 
the General Court Records gives it. 



20 GROTOX. 

"5 That in Graunting of lotts children haue theire due Consideration 
w* estates theire parent giving securitje to defray y r charges of the 
place as is before p r mised. 

" THO DANFORTn 

Edward Johnson 
Ephr. Child 
" The Court AppVooves of & doe Confirme the returne of the Comittee 
& doe hereby further orde r & Impower the aforesajd Comittee for the 
ends aboue mentioned vntill meete men shall be found amongst such as 
shall Inhabit there & be approoved of by a County Court" 
(General Court Records, IV. 371.) 

The next document, in point of time, found among 
the Archives # (I. 21) at the State House and relating 
to Groton, is the following request for a brandmark, 
which was wanted probably for marking cattle 

"The Humble Request of Joseph Parker to the Honoured Governo r 
the Honourd magistrates & deputyes, Humbly Requests in behalfe of 
the towne of Gravvton that the letter Gr may bee Recorded as the brand 
mark belonging to the towne I being chosen Counstible this year make 
bolde to present this, to the Honoured Court it being but my duty, in the 
townes behalfe thus Hopeing the Honored Court will grant my request 
I rest yo r Humble Servant : 

" Joseph Parker 
"Boston : 31th : may : 1666 

" In answer to this motion the Deputies approue of the letters : Gr 
to be ye brand marke of groaten 

" William Torrey Cleric. 
" o r Hono. rd magists consentinge hereto 
" Consented by the magists 

"Edw: Rawson Secrety" 

Joseph Parker, before coming to Groton, had lived 
at Chelmsford, where his children were born. He 
was a brother of James, another of the early settlers 
of the town. 

During this period the town was paying some at- 
tention to the question of marks for trees as well as 
for cattle. At a general meeting held on March 5, 
1665-G6. it was voted that "there should be trees 



GROTON. 21 

marked for shade for cattell in all common hy wayes : " 
and furthermore that " the marke should be a 
great T." From various expressions found in the 
early town records, it would seem that the country 
in the neighborhood was not densely wooded when 
the settlement was first made. Ac a meeting of the 
selectmen held in the winter of 1669, an order was 
passed for the preservation of trees, but the writing 
is so torn that it is impossible to copy it. At another 
meeting held on January 13, 1673-74, it was voted 
that all trees of more than six inches in diameter at 
the butt, excepting walnut and pine, growing by the 
wayside, should be reserved for public w r orks, and 
that the penalty for cutting them down, without 
authority, should be ten shillings a tree. 

At a general town-meeting on December 21, 1674. 
leave was granted to William Longley, Jr., to cut 
down three or four trees standing in the road near his 
farm and shading his corn, on condition that he give 
to the town the same number of trees for mending the 
highways. 

The early settlers of Groton encountered many 
trials and privations in planting the town. The men 
worked hard in felling trees and breaking ground, 
and the women toiled faithfully in their rude houses. 
They were used to hardships, and they took them 
with Christian resignation. Their daily life taught 
them the true principles of philosophy. They lived 
on the rough edge of civilization, and nothing stood 
between them and an unbroken wilderness. These 
pioneers were a devout people ; and the strength of 
their religious belief is shown in no way so clearly as 



22 GROTON. 

in the fortitude with which they met their lot in life. 
The prowling Indians were their neighbors, whose 
constant movements required careful watching. There 
were families of savages scattered along the interval 
land of the Nashua valley, from Lancaster to the 
Merrimack River, who at times annoyed the settlers 
by killing pigs and stealing chickens. Judging from the 
n umber of stone implements found in the neighborhood , 
there was an Indian village just above the Red Bridge, 
on the west side of the Nashua River. It probably 
consisted of a few families only, belonging to the 
Nashua tribe, as they were called by the English. 
Like all their race, these Indians were a shiftless peo- 
ple, and often changed their abodes, going hither and 
thither as they found good hunting-grounds or fish- 
ing-places. They bartered skins and furs with the 
planters ; and so much business was carried on in this 
way, that the government sold to individuals the 
right to trade with them. As early as July, 1657, 
John Tinker, one of the original selectmen of the 
town, appointed by the General Court, paid eight 
pounds for the privilege of trafficking with them at 
Lancaster and Groton. A few of these natives knew 
a little English, which they had picked up from con- 
tact with the whites. Gookin refers to them in his 
" History of the Christian Indians," when he speaks of 
" some skulking Indians of the enemy, that formerly 
lived about Groton, the principal whereof was named 
Nathaniel, he and his party did this and other mis- 
chief afterward, in burning several houses at Chelms- 
ford." 1 This Nathaniel was taken subsequently at 

1 Archseologia Americana, II. 471. 



GROTON. 23 

Cocheco (now Dover), New Hampshire, and hanged in 
Boston. Some of these vagrants took an active part 
in the burning of Groton during Philip's War. The 
leader of the savages at this assault was John 
Monaco or Monoco, nicknamed " One-eyed John," 
from the loss of an eye. After he had taken by strat- 
agem a garrison-house, he entered into a long conver- 
sation with Captain Parker, who was stationed in 
another house near by, and called him his old neigh- 
bor. From this fact I infer that " One-eyed John " 
knew Captain Parker, and had previously lived in the 
vicinity. Warfare among the aborigines did not 
require generalship so much as knowledge of places ; 
and the head of an assaulting party was one familiar 
with the clearings and the lay of the land in the 
threatened territory. During the ensuing autumn 
this leader was brought to the gallows in Boston, 
where he suffered the extreme penalty of the law. 

The Indians soon acquired from the English the 
love of strong drink, which is sure to lead to disputes 
and quarrels. The earliest documents at the State 
House, relating to Groton and the savages, give an 
account of a drunken brawl which ended in murder. 
The affair took place in the Merrimack Valley, and 
several men of this town were summoned to appear 
as witnesses at the investigation before the General 
Court in Boston. In the spring of 1668 Captain 
Eichard Waldron built a trucking or trading-house 
at Penacock (now Concord), New Hampshire, where a 
few weeks later one Thomas Dickinson was murdered 
by an Indian while under the influence of liquor. 
The homicide created great excitement, and it has 



24 GROTON. 

been supposed to have delayed the permanent settle- 
ment of the place for many years. A warrant was 
issued directing the constable of Groton to summon 
John Page, Thomas Tarbell, Jr., Joseph Blood and 
Eobert Parish, all of this town, before the General 
Court in order to give their testimony, which they 
did under oath. It appeared by the evidence that 
there had been a drunken row, and that Dickinson 
was killed by an Indian, who acknowledged the crime 
and expressed great sorrow for it, but pleaded drunken- 
ness in extenuation of the deed. The culprit was 
tried at once by a council of the Indians, who sen- 
tenced him to be shot, which was done the next day. 
It is interesting now to note the high temperance 
stand taken, more than two hundred years ago, by the 
Chief Tohaunto, which places him abreast of the most 
earnest opposers of the rum traffic at the present 
time. 

During a series of years before Philip's War the 
Indians had been supplied with arms and ammuni- 
tion, though this was contrary to the laws of the Colo- 
nies. The French in Canada and the Dutch in New 
York had carried on considerable traffic with the na- 
tives in these contraband articles ; and occasionally 
some avaricious settler would barter with them, giv- 
ing powder and shot in exchange. The possession of 
firearms made the Indians bold and insolent, and the 
tendency of events was toward open hostilities. 
This tendency was strengthened by a feeling of suspi- 
cion on the part of the colonists, and by one of 
iealousy on the part of the savages. Distrust always 
grows out of suspicion, and the fears of the settlers 



GROTON. 25 

began to be excited when they thought of their ex- 
posed situation. Under these circumstances, it was 
wise to prepare for all emergencies ; and at an early 
day a military company was organized in this town. 
The following entry is made in the manuscript records 
of the General Court during the session beginning 
May 6, 1673: 

" James Parker of Groaten hailing had the care of the military Com- 
pany there for seuerall yeares. is Appointed & ordered to be their leiften- 
nant & AVm Larkin to be ensigne to the sajd Company there." * 

The two officers of this organization were each pro- 
moted one grade during the next autumn, which 
would indicate that the company was filling up in 
numbers. At the session of the General Court begin- 
ning October 15, 1673, the record reads : 

" The military Company of Groaten being destitut of military ofcers 
The Court Judgeth it meet to choose & Appoint James Parker to be their 
captane W m Lakin to be leiftennant & Nathaniel Lawrence to be their 
ensigne. 2 

Before this time there had been in Middlesex 
County a company of troopers, or cavalry, made up 
of men living in the frontier towns, of which Groton 
was one— as mentioned in the General Court Eecords 
of October, 1669. 

One of the prominent men in the history of the 
Colony at this period was Major Simon Willard. A 
native of England, he came to Massachusetts in the 
year 1634. He had lived at Concord, Lancaster and 
Groton, and in all these places exerted a wide influ- 
ence. He had filled various civil offices, and in his 



(General Court Records, IV. 718.) 
(General Court Records, IV. 726.) 



26 GROTON. 

day was a noted military man. His farm was sit- 
uated at Nonacoicus, now included within the limits 
of Ayer ; and his dwelling-house was the first build- 
ing burned at the attack on Groton, March 13, 1676. 
During several months previously he had been en- 
gaged with his men in scouting along the line of 
frontier settlements and protecting the inhabitants. 
At this assault Major Willard came with a company 
of cavalry to the relief of the town, though he did not 
reach the place in time to be of service in its defence. 
He died at Charlestown, on April 24, 1676, a very 
few weeks after this town was abandoned. Benjamin 
Thompson, the earliest native American poet, pays 
the following tribute to his character, in a little 
pamphlet published during Philip's War, and entitled 
" New England's Tears." It is certainly rude in ex- 
pression, and probably just in its conception, but not 
accurate as to the date of his death : 

"About this Time Died Major Willard Esq.; who had continued one 
of our Senators many years, and Head of the 3Iassachuset Bands. In 
23 April 1676. 

" EPITArHIUM. 
" Great, Good, and Just, Valiant, and Wise, 
New Euglands Common Sacrifice : 
The Prince of War, the Bond of Love, 
A True Heroick Martial Dove : 
Pardon I croud his Parts so close 
WJiich all the World in measure knows, 
We envy Death, and well we may, 
Who keeps him under Lock and Key." 

Nearly one-and-twenty years had passed since the 
little settlement in the wilderness was begun, and 
Groton was fast approaching its majority. The new 
town had enjoyed a moderate share of prosperity, and 



GROTON. 27 

was slowly working out its destiny. The founders 
were poor in this world's goods, but rich in faith and 
courage. They had now tasted the hardships of 
frontier life, but not as yet felt the horrors of savage 
warfare. The distant thunders of a threatening 
storm were beginning to be heard, and the occasional 
flashes put the early settlers on their guard. Philip's 
War had broken out during the summer of 1675, and 
the outlying settlements were exposed to new dangers. 
The inhabitants of this town took such precautions 
as seemed needful, and trusted in Providence for the 
rest. They were just beginning to prepare for the 
work of another season, when a small band of prowl- 
ing Indians alarmed the town by pillaging eight or 
nine houses and driving off some cattle. This oc- 
curred on March 2, 1676, and was a sufficient warn- 
ing, probably, to send the inhabitants to the garrison- 
houses, whither they were wont to flee in time of 
danger. These places of refuge were usually houses 
surrounded by a strong wall of stone or timber, built 
up as high as the eaves, with a gateway, and port- 
holes for the use of musketry. 

In Groton there were five such garrison-houses, 
and under their protection many a sleepless, anxious 
night was passed by the in mates. Four of these 
houses were very near each other, and the fifth was 
nearly a mile away. The sites of some of them are 
well known. One was Mr. Willard's house, which 
stood near the High School ; another was Captain 
Parker's house, which stood just north of the Town 
Hall ; and a third was John Nutting's. house, on the 
other side of James's Brook. The fourth was proba- 



28 GKOTON. 

bly north of John Nutting's, but perhaps south of 
Mr. Willard's. There is a tradition that one stood 
near the house formerly owned and occupied by the 
late Eber Woods, which would make the fifth 
garrison-house " near a mile distant from the rest." 
Eichard Sawtell, the first town-clerk, was living on 
this site at that time, and his house would have been 
a convenient rallying-point for his neighbors. With- 
out doubt he was the Eichard Sawtell who served in 
Major Appleton's company during Philip's War. 

It is recorded in the inventory of his estate, on file 
in the Middlesex Probate Office at East Cambridge, 
that Timothy Cooper, of Groton, was " Sleine by the 
Indeins the Second day of march, 1675-6." Cooper 
was an Englishman by birth, and lived, probably, 
somewhere between the Baptist meeting-house and 
the beginning of Farmers' Row. It is not known that 
there was other loss of life at this time, but the affair 
was serious enough to alarm the inhabitants. They 
sought refuge immediately in the garrison-houses, as 
the Indians were lurking in the vicinity. On March 
9th the savages again threatened the beleaguered 
town, and by a cunningly contrived ambush, man- 
aged to entrap four men at work, of whom one was 
killed and one captured, while the other two escaped. 
This second assault must have produced great alarm 
and consternation among the people of the town. 
The final and main attack, however, came on the 
13th, when the enemy appeared in full body, — thought 
to be not less than four hundred in number. The 
inhabitants at this time all were gathered into the 
several garrisons for protection. During the previous 



GROTON. 29 

3or- 



night the savages scattered throughout the neighk 
hood, and the first volley of shot on the morning of 
the 13th was a signal for the general burning of the 
town ; and in this conflagration the first meeting- 
house of Groton was destroyed, together with about 
forty dwelling-houses. This building, erected at the 
cost of many and great privations, was the pride of 
the inhabitants. With its thatched roof, it must have 
burned quickly ; and in a very short time nothing was 
left but a heap of smoking embers. Although it had 
never been formally dedicated to religious worship, 
it had been consecrated in spirit to the service of God 
by the prayers of the minister and the devotion of the 
congregation. In this assault John Nutting's garri- 
son was taken by stratagem. The men defending it 
had been drawn out by two Indians, apparently 
alone, when the savages in ambush arose and killed 
one of the men, probably John Nutting himself, and 
wounded three others. At the same time the garrison- 
house, now defenceless, was attacked in the rear and 
the palisades pulled down, allowing the enemy to 
take possession. The women and children, compris- 
ing those of five families, escaped to Captain Parker's 
house, situated between James's Brook and the site of 
the Town-House. 

There is a family tradition, worthy of credence, that 
John Nutting was killed while defending his log- 
house fort during Philip's War. His wife's name 
appears a few months later in the Woburn town- 
records as " Widow Nutting," which is confirmatory 
of the tradition. 

Several printed accounts of Philip's War appeared 



30 GROTON. 

very soon after it was ended, and these furnish all 
that is known in regard to it. At that time there was 
no special correspondent on the spot to get the news ; 
and, as the means for communication were limited, 
these narratives differ somewhat in the details, but 
they agree substantially in their general statements. 

With the exception of Hubbard's Narrative, the 
contemporary accounts of this assault on the town 
are all short ; and I give them in the words of the 
writers, for what they are worth. The first is from 
" A Brief History of the Warr with the Indians in 
Newe England," by Increase Mather, published in the 
year 1676. This account, one of the earliest in print, 
is as follows : 

" March the IQth. Mischief was done, and several lives cut off by the 
Indians this day, at Groton and at Sudimry. An humbling Providence, 
inasmuch as many Churches were this day Fasting and Praying. (Page 
23.) 

" March 13. The Indians assaulted Groton, and left but few houses 
standing. So that this day also another Candlestick was removed out of 
its place. One of the first houses that the enemy destroyed in this 
place, was the House of God, h. e. which was built, and set apart for the 
celebration of the publick "Worship of God. 

" When they had done that, they scoffed and blasphemed, and came 
to Mr. Willard (the worthy Pastor of the Church there) his house (which 
being Fortified, they attempted not to destroy it) and tauntingly, said, 
What will you do for a house to pray in novj we have burnt your Meeting- 
house f Tbus hath the enemy done wickedly in the Sanctuary, they 
have burnt up the Synagogues of God in the Land ; they have cast fire 
into the Sanctuary ; they have cast down the dwelling place of his name 
to the Ground. God, how long shall the Adversary approach f shall the 
Enemy Blaspheme thy Name for ever f ichy withdrawest thou thinehand, even 
thy right handf pluck it out of thy bosome.' 1 '' (Page 24.) 

Several accounts of the war appeared in London 
in 1676, only a few months after the destruction of 
this town. They were written in New England, and 



GROTON. 31 

sent to Old England, where they were at once 
published in thin pamplets. The authors of them 
are now unknown, but undoubtedly they gathered 
their materials from hearsay. At that time Indian 
affairs in New England atti acted a good deal of at- 
tention in the mother country. One of these pamphlets 
is entitled : " A True Account of the most Consider- 
able Occurrences that have hapned in the Warre 
between the English and the Indians in New Eng- 
land, ... as it hath been communicated by 
Letters to a Friend in London." This narrative 
says : 

" On the 13th of March, before our Forces could return towards our 
Parts, the Indians sent a strong party, and assaulted the Town of Growton, 
about forty miles North-west from Boston, and burn'd all the deserted 
Houses ; the Garrison'd Houses, which were about ten, all escaped but 
one, which they carryed, but not the English in it ; for there was but 
one slain and two wounded." (Page 2.) 

Another account, entitled : " A New and Further 
Narration of the State of New England, being a con- 
tinued account of the Bloudy Indian-war," gives the 
following version : 

" The 14th of March the savage Enemy set upon a Considerable Town 
called Groughton, and burnt 31aj or Wilberds House first (who with his 
family removed to Charts Town) and afterwards destroyed sixty Five 
dwelling-houses more there, leaving but six houses standing in the 
whole Town, which they likewise furiously attempted to set on fire ; 
But being fortified with Arms and Men as Garisons, they with their 
shot, killed several of the Enemy, and prevented so much of their 
designe ; Nor do we hear that any person on our side was here either 
slain or taken captive." (Page i.) 

A few pages further on it says : " Grantham and 
Nashaicay all ruined but one house or two." (Page 
14.) Few persons would recognize this town under 
the disguise of Grantham. 



32 GROTON. 

A third one of these London pamphlets, bearing 
the title of " News from New England," says : 

"The 1th of March following these bloody Indians march't to a con- 
siderable Town called Croaton where they first set fire to Major Willards 
house, and afterwards burnt 65 more, there being Seaventy two houses 
at fiist so that there was left standing but six houses of the whole Town." 
(Page 4.) 

The details of the burning of the town are found 
in " A Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians in 
New England," written by the Keverend William 
Hubbard, and printed in the year 1677. It is the 
fullest history of the events relating to Groton ap- 
pearing near the time; and very likely many of the 
facts were obtained from the Reverend Mr. Willard. 
The account is not as clear as might be desired, and 
contains some glaring discrepancies, but it is too long 
to be quoted here. 

The Indians were a cowardly set and never at- 
tacked in open field. They never charged on works 
in regular column, but depended rather on craft or 
cunning to defeat their adversary. The red hell- 
hounds — as they were sometimes called by our pious 
forefathers — were always ready to attack women and 
children, but afraid to meet men. The main body of 
the savages passed the night following the final at- 
tack in "an adjacent valley," which cannot now be 
easily identified, but some of them lodged in the gar- 
rison-house, which they had taken ; and the next 
morning, after firing two or three volleys at Captain 
Parker's house, they departed. They carried off a 
prisoner, — John Morse, the town clerk, — who was 
ransomed a short time afterward. The following 
reference to him in an undated letter, written by the 



GROTON. 33 

Rev. Thomas Cobbet to the Rev. Increase Mather, 
shows very nearly the time of his release : 

"May ye 12th [167G] Good wife Diuens [Divoll] and Good wife Ketle 
vpon ransom paid, came into concord. & vpon like ransom presently 
[ajfter John Moss of Groton & lieftenaut Carlors [Kerley's] Daughter of 
Lancaster were set at liberty & 9 more. w l out ransom." (Mather 
Manuscripts in the Prince Collection, at the Boston Public Library, 
I. 76.) 

The ransom for John Morse was paid by John 
Hubbard, of Boston, and amounted to "about five 
pounds." Morse's petition to the Council, to have 
Hubbard reimbursed, is found among the Massachu- 
setts Archives (LXIX. 48). 

Fortunately the loss of life or limb on the part of 
the inhabitants of the town was small, and it is not 
known that more than three persons were killed — 
of whom one was Timothy Cooper, and another, with- 
out doubt, John Nutting — and three wounded ; two 
w 7 ere made prisoners, of whom one escaped from the 
savages and reached Lancaster, and the other, John 
Morse, was ransomed. 

The lot of these early settlers was indeed hard and 
bitter ; they had seen their houses destroyed and their 
cattle killed, leaving them nothing to live on. Their 
alternative now was to abandon the plantation, which 
they did with much sadness and sorrow. The settle- 
ment was broken up, and the inhabitants scattered in 
different directions among their friends and kindred. 
In the spring of 1678, after an absence of two years, 
they returned and established anew the little town on 
the frontier. 

In the autumn of 1879 the town of Groton erected 
a monument to commemorate the site of the meeting- 
3 



34 GROTON. 

house which was burned during this assault. It bears 
the following inscription : 

"near this spot 

STOOD THE FIRST MEETING HOUSE OF GROTON 

Built in 1666 

and burnt by the indians 

13 March 1676" 

The monument, in connection with two others 
relating to the history of the town, was dedicated 
with appropriate exercises in the Town Hall on Feb. 
20, 1880, when an address was delivered by Dr. Sam- 
uel A. Green, which was subsequently printed. 

After Philip's War the colonists were at peace 
with the Indians, but it was a suspicious kind of 
peace. It required watching and a show of strength 
to keep it ; there was no good-will between the na- 
tive race and the white intruders. The savages at 
best made bad neighbors ; they were treacherous and 
addicted to drink. The following entries in the town 
records show that they were a shiftless and drunken 
set : 

" Jnneuary 31 1681 It [was] agred upon by the select men That the 
Indanes shall be warned out of the Toune forth with and if the shall 
neiglect the warning and if any of them be taken drounke or in drinke 
or with drinke Then these parsons ar to be sezed and brout be foure 
the select men either by constable or by any other parson and be poun- 
esed accordin as the law doth direct and the Informal- shall be sattised 
for his paines" 

" March 28 1682 two Indian squaws being apprehended In drinke & 
with drinke brought to y e select men one squaw Nehatchechin swaw 
being drouncke was sentanced to receive & did receive ten stripes the 
other John Nasquuns sway was sentanced to pay 3 s 4<* cash and loose 
her two quart bottle and the Liquour in it awarded to Sarg nt Laken who 
seized them." 

During this period the Indians began again to be 



GROTON. 35 

troublesome, and for the next fifteen or twenty 
years continued their occasional depredations by 
murdering the inhabitants, burning their houses, 
destroying their crops or killing their cattle. Into 
these garrison-houses the neighboring families gath- 
ered at night, where they were guarded by armed 
men who warned the inmates of any approach of 
danger. 

At times troops were stationed here by the Colonial 
authorities for the protection of the tbwn ; and the 
orders and counter orders to the small garrison show 
too well that danger was threatening. In the mean- 
while King William's War was going on ; and the 
enemy had material and sympathetic aid from the 
French in Canada. The second attack on the town 
came in the summer of 1694, and the accounts of it I 
prefer to give in the words of contemporary writers. 
Sometimes there are discrepancies, but, in the main, 
such narratives are trustworthy. 

The attack was made on Friday, July 27th, and Cot- 
ton Mather, in his " Magnalia," thu3 refers to it : 

" Nor did the Storm go over so : Some Drops of it fell upon the Town 
of Grotou, a Town that lav, one would think, far enough off the Place 
where was the last Scene of the Tragedy. 

" On July 27. [1694,] about break of Day Groton felt some surprising 
Blows from the Indian Hatchets. They began their Attacks at the 
House of one Lieutenant Lakin, in the Out-skirts of the Town; but met 
with a Repulse there, and lost one of their Crew. Nevertheless, in 
other Parts of that Plantation (when the good People had been so tired 
out as to lay down their Military Watch) there were more than Twenty 
Persons killed, and more than a Dozen carried away. Mr. Gershom Ho- 
hart, the Minister of the Place, with part of his Family, was Remark- 
ably preserved from falling into their Hands, when they made them- 
selves the Masters of his House ; though they Took Two of his Chil- 
dren, whereof the one was Killed, and the other some time after hap- 
pily Rescued out of his Captivity." (Book VII. page 86.) 



36 GROTON. 

Governor Hutchinson, in his " History of the 
Province of Massachusetts Bay," published during 
the following century, writes : 

"Having crossed Merrimack, on the 27th of July [1694] they fell upon 
Groton, about 40 miles from Boston. They were repulsed at Lakin's 
garrison house, but fell upon other houses, where the people were off 
their guard, and killed and carried away from the vicinity about forty 
persons. Toxus's two nephews were killed by his side, and he had a 
dozen bullets through his blanket, according to Charlevoix, who adds 
that he carried the fort or garrison and then went to make spoil at the 
gates of Boston ; in both which facts the French account is erroneous." 
(II. 82.) 

In the assault of July, 1694, the loss on the part of 
the inhabitants w T as considerably greater than when 
the town was destroyed in the attack of 1676. It is 
said that the scalps of the unfortunate victims were 
given to the Count de Frontenac, Governor of Can- 
ada. A large majority, and perhaps all, of the pris- 
oners taken at this time were children. The Indians 
had learned that captives had a market value; and 
children, when carried off, could be more easily 
guarded than adults. It was more profitable for the 
savages to exchange prisoners for a ransom, or sell 
them to the French, than it was to kill them. It is 
now too late to give the names of all the sufferers, 
but a few facts in regard to them may be gathered 
from fragmentary sources. The families that suffered 
the severest lived, for the most part, in the same gen- 
eral neighborhood, which was near the site of the first 
meeting-house. Lieut. William Lakin's house, 
where the fight began, was situated in the vicinity of 
Chicopee Row. 

The following list of casualties, necessarily incom- 



GROTON. 37 

:i 



plete and in part conjectural, is given as an approx: 
mation to the loss sustained by the town : 

Killed. Captured. 

John Longley's family " 3 

Kev. Mr. Hobart's " 1 

John Shepley's " 4? 1 

James Parker, Jr.' s" 2 

Alexander Bouse' s " 2 

Mr. Gershom Hobart, the minister, whose house was 
captured in this assault, lived where the Baptist 
meeting-house now stands. One of his boys was 
killed, and another, Gershom, Jr., was carried off. 
There is a tradition extant that a third child was con- 
cealed under a tub in the cellar*, and thus save* from 
the fury of the savages. Judge Sewall writes in his 
diary, under the date of May 1, 1695 : 

"Mr. Hobarts son Gershom is well at a new Fort a days Journey 
above Nerigawag [Norridgewock], Masters name is Nassacombfiwit, a 
good Master, and Mistress. Master is chief Captain, now Bambazeen is 

absent." 
("Massachusetts Historical Collections," V. Fifth series, 403, 404.) 

According to a letter written by the Reverend 
John Cotton to his wife at Plymouth, and dated 
" Election-night, Boston » (May 29, 1695), he was res- 
cued from captivity during that month. The inscrip- 
tion on the Shepley monument says that "the Indi- 
ans massacred all the Sheples in Groton save a John 
Sheple 16 years old who the[y] carried captive to 
Canada and kept him 4 years, after which he returned 
to Groton and from him descended all the Sheples 
or Shepleys in this Vicinity ;" but there is no record 
to show how many there were in this family. Mr. 
Butler, in his History (page 97), makes substantially 



38 GROTON. 

the same statement, but does not mention any num- 
ber. In my list it is placed at five, which is conjec- 
tural ; of this number probably four were slain. 
Shepley Jived near where the Martin's Pond Road 
starts off from the North Common. The knowledge 
which the boy John obtained of their language and 
customs, while a prisoner among the Indians, was of 
much use to him in after-life. Tradition says that, 
when buying furs and skins of them, he used to put 
his foot in one scale of the balance instead of a pound 
weight. In the summer of 1704, while he and thir- 
teen other men were reaping in a field at Groton, they 
were attacked by a party of about twenty Indians. 
After much skirmishing Shepley and one of his com- 
rades, Butterfield by name, succeeded in killing one 
of the assailants, for which act they were each granted 
four pounds by the Provincial authorities. He was 
the direct ancestor of the late Honorable Ether 
Shepley, of Portland, formerly chief justice of the 
Supreme Judicial Court of the State of Maine, 
and his son, the late Gen. George Foster Shep- 
ley, formerly a justice of the Circuit Court 
of the First Circuit of the United States. 
John's petition to the General Court, asking 
that an allowance be made for this service, and giv- 
ing the particulars of the attack, is found among the 
Massachusetts Archives (XXX, 496, 497) at the State- 
House. 

Among the " Nams of thos Remaining Still in 
hands of the french at Canada," found in a document 
dated October, 1695, are those of "Lidey Langly 
gerl" and " Jn° Shiply boy." In this list the resi- 



GROTON. 39 

dences of both these children are incorrectly written, 
Lydia's being given as Dover, New Hampshire, and 
John's as Oyster River. They both belonged in this 
town, and were taken at the assault of July 27, 1694. 
The name of Thomas Drew appears in the same list 
as of Groton, which is a mistake, as he was of Oyster 
River. (Archives, XXXVIII. A 2.) 

This expedition against Groton was planned in 
part by the Indians at a fort called Amsaquonte above 
Norridgewock, in Maine. It was arranged also in the 
plan of operations that Oyster River — now Durham, 
New Hampshire — should be attacked on the way ; and 
the assault on that town was made July 18th nine days 
before the one on Groton. At Oyster River more 
than ninety persons were either killed or captured; 
the prisoners from the two towns appear to have been 
taken to Maine, where they were brought frequently 
together during their captivity. On January 21, 1695, 
Lieutenant-Governor William Stoughton issued a 
proclamation, in which he refers to the " tragical out- 
rages and barberous murders" at Oyster River and 
Groton. He says that several of the prisoners taken 
at these places "are now detained by the said Indians 
at Amarascoggin and other adjoining places." 

Hezekiah Miles, alias Hector, a friendly Indian, at 
one time a captive in the enemy's hands, made a 
deposition before the Lieutenant-Governor and Coun- 
cil, at Boston, May 31, 1695, which gives some details 
of the preparation for the attack ; and Ann Jenkins, 
in a deposition on June 11, 1695, adds other particu- 
lars. These papers may be found among the Massa- 
chusetts Archives (VIII. 39, 40). 



40 GEOTON. 

The story of William and Deliverance Longley's 
family is a sad one to relate. They were living, with 
their eight children, on a small farm, perhaps a mile 
and a quarter from the village, on the east side of the 
Hollis road. Their house was built of hewn logs, and 
was standing at the beginning of the present century. 
The old cellar, with its well-laid walls, was distinctly 
visible forty years ago, and traces of it could be seen 
even to very modern times. The site of this house 
has recently been marked by a monument bearing the 
following inscription : — 



HERE DWELT 

WILLIAM AND DELIVERANCE LONGLEY 

WITH THEIR EIGHT CHILDREN. 

On the 27th of July 1694 

the indians killed the father and mother 

and five of the children 

and carried into captivity 

the other three. 



The monument was erected in the autumn of 1879, 
at the expense of the town, on land generously given 
for the purpose by Mr. Zechariah Fitch, the present 
owner of the farm ; and it was dedicated with appro- 
priate exercises on February 20, 1880. 

On the fatal morning of July 27, 1694, the massa- 
cre of this family took place. The savages appeared 
suddenly, coming from the other side of the Merri- 
mack Kiver, and began the attack at Lieutenant 
William Lakin's house, where they were repulsed 
with the loss of one of their number. They followed 
it up by assaulting other houses in the same neigh- 



GROTON. 41 

borhood. They made quick work of it, and left the 
town as speedily as they came. With the exception 
of John Shepley's house, it is not known that they 
destroyed any of the buildings ; but they pillaged 
them before they departed. They carried off thirteen 
prisoners, mostly children, — and perhaps all, — who 
must have retarded their march. There is a tradition 
that, early in the morning of the attack, the Indians 
turned Longley 's cattle out of the barnyard into the 
cornfield and then lay in ambush. The stratagem 
had the desired effect. Longley rushed out of the 
house unarmed, in order to drive the cattle back, 
when he was murdered and all his family either killed 
or captured. The bodies of the slain were buried in 
one grave, a few rods northwest of the house. A 
small apple-tree growing over the spot and a stone 
lying even with the ground, for many years furnished 
the only clue to the final resting-place of thi3 unfor- 
tunate family, but these have now disappeared. 

William Longley was town clerk in the year 1687, 
and also from 1692 till his death, in 1694 ; and only 
one week before he was killed he had made entries 
in the town records. His father, William Longley, 
Sr., also had been town clerk during the years 1666 
and 1667, and died November 29, 1680. The father 
was one of the earliest settlers of the town, as well as 
the owner of a thirty-acre right in the original Groton 
plantation. Lydia, John and Betty were the names 
of the three children carried off by the savages, and 
taken to Canada. Lydia was sold to the French and 
placed in the Congregation of Notre Dame, a convent 
in Montreal, where she embraced the Roman Catho- 



42 GROTON. 

lie faith, and died July 20, 1758, at the advanced age 
of eighty-four years. Betty perished soon after her 
capture from hunger and exposure ; and John, the 
third child, remained with the savages for more than 
four years, when he was ransomed and brought away 
much against his own will. At one time during his 
captivity he was on the verge of starving, when an 
Indian kindly gave him a dog's foot to gnaw, which 
for the time appeased his hunger. He was known 
among his captors as John Augary. After he came 
home his sister Lydia wrote from Canada urging him 
to abjure the Protestant religion ; but he remained 
true to the faith of his early instruction. 

Their grandmother, the widow of Benjamin Crispe, 
made her will April 13, 1698, which was admitted to 
probate in Middlesex County on the 28th of the fol- 
lowing December ; and in it she remembered these 
absent children as follows: 

" I give and bequeath Vnto my three Grand-Children yt are in Cap- 
tivity if they returne Vizdt these books one of y m a bible another a Ser- 
mon booke treating of faith and the other a psalme book." 

The old lady herself, doubtless, had read the " Ser- 
mon booke treating of faith ; " and it must have 
strengthened her belief in Divine wisdom, and been a 
great consolation in her trials. She did not know at 
this time that her granddaughter was already a con- 
vert to the Roman Catholic religion. The knowledge 
of this fact would have been to her an affliction 
scarcely less than the massacre of her daughter's 
family. 

John Longley returned about the time when the 
grandmother died; and subsequently he filled many 



GKOTON. 43 

important offices both in the church and the town. 
Like his father and grandfather, he was the town 
clerk during several years. Among the papers (Knox 
Manuscripts, Waldo Papers, L. 13) in the possession 
of the New England Historic Genealogical Society is 
a deposition made by Longley, giving a short account 
of his captivity among the Indians. 

In the month of July, 1877, I was in Montreal, 
where I procured, through the kindness of the Mother 
Superior at the Congregation of Notre Dame, a copy 
of the French record of Lydia's baptism, of which the 
following is a translation : 

"On Tuesday, April 24, 1696, the ceremony of baptism was performed 
on an English girl, named Lydia Longley, who was born April 14, 1674, 
at Groton, a few miles from Boston in New England. She was the 
daughter of William Longley and Deliverance Crisp, both Protestants. 
She was captured in the month of July, 1694, by the Abenaqui Indians, 
and has lived for the past month in the house of the Sisters of the Con- 
gregation of Notre Dame. The godfather was M. Jacques Leber, mer- 
chant ; the godmother was Madame Marie Madeleine Dupont, wife of 
M. de Maricourt, Ecuyer, Captain of a company of Marines: she named 
this English girl Lydia Madeleine. 

Signed "Lydia Madeleine Longley, 

" Madeleine Dupont, 

" Leber, 

"M. Caille, acting curate." 

After this attack of July 27th the town was left in 
straitened circumstances, and the inhabitants found it 
difficult to meet the demands made on them. In 
this emergency they petitioned the General Court for 
relief, which was duly granted. 

Cotton Mather says that one man was killed at Gro- 
ton in the year 1697, and another, with two children, 
carried into captivity. (Magnalia, Book VII. page 
91.) He does not give the date clearly, but inferen- 



44 GROTON. 

tially it is June. The prisoner was Stephen Holden, 
who was captured, with his two oldest sons, John and 
Stephen, Jr. John was released in January, 1699, at 
which time the father and the other boy were yet 
remaining in the hands of the savages. It was not 
long, however, before they too were freed ; for, in the 
following June, the House of Representatives voted 
three pounds and twelve shillings for the expenses 
that had been incurred in bringing them back. 

Queen Anne's War, as it is commonly called in 
America, broke out in the year 1702, when England 
declared war against France and Spain ; and the 
American Colonies were drawn into the contest. The 
Indians in New England were in sympathy with the 
French ; and they kept the frontier settlements con- 
tinually on the alert. Strict vigilance, on the part of 
the colonists Avas the price of their safety. Military 
companies were still held under discipline and drill, 
and from time to time were reviewed by the proper 
officers. In the year 1702, Chief Justice Samuel Sewall 
accompanied Governor Joseph Dudley through Mid- 
dlesex County on a tour of inspection; and in his 
Diary, under date of October 28th, he writes: 

" Went to Groton, saw Captain Prescot and his company in Arms. (Gov 1 
bad sent to them from Dunatable that would visit them). Lancaster is 
about 12 Miles Southward from Groton. Concord is 16 Miles % and 
Ten-Rod from Groton." 

(Massachusetts Historical Collections, VI. fifth series, 67.) 

After these alarms there was a short respite, which 
continued till 1704, when the frontier towns were 
again exposed to savage warfare, and this town suf- 
fered with the others. 

Samuel Penhallow, in " The History of the Wars 



GROTON. 4>"> 

of New England" (Boston, 1726), thus refers to the 
attack on this place in August, 1704 : The Indians — 

" afterwards fell on Lancaster, and Groaton, where they did some Spoil, 
but not what they expected, for that these Towns were seasonably 
strengthened. . . . 

" And yet a little while after they fell on Groaton, and Nashaway [Lan- 
caster], where they kill'd Lieut. Wyler [Wilder], and several more. 
(Pages 24, 25.) 

In the library of the Massachusetts Historical So- 
ciety is a manuscript diary of John Marshall, of 
Braintree, which has the following entry : 

The begining of this month of august [1704] the Indians did mischief 
at Lancaster Killed. 3 or -A persons burnt their meeting house : and did 
some harm allso at Groton. the same week. Killed one or more : about 
200 men went out after them who weer gone 20 days under major Taylor, 
but Returned Without doing any spoill on them." 

The attack on Lancaster was on July 31st, and 
that on Groton probably within a day or two of the 
same time. 

It was during this assault that Matthias Farns- 
worth, Jr., was captured and taken to Canada, where 
he remained permanently. He was afterward mar- 
ried to a French wife, and his numerous posterity are 
still living in Canada. The name is found written 
now Farnet, Farnef and Phaneuf. 

A party of Indians, numbering about thirty, made 
their appearance in town, and killed a man on the 
night of October 25, 1704. Pursuit was at once made 
for them, but it was unsuccessful. The Boston Neivs- 
Letter, October 30, 1704, gives the following account 
of the affair ; 

" On Wednesday night [October 25] an English man was kill'd in the 
woods at Groton by the Indians which were afterwards descryed in the 
night by the Light of their Fires, by a Person Travailing from Groton 



46 GROTON. 

to Limcatter, and judged they might be about Thirty in number ; pur- 
suit wae made after them, but none could be found." 

From ''Marshall's Diary" we learn the name of 
the man who was slain. It is there recorded : 

"on the 25 day [October, 1704], mr Breck was ordained at marlbor- 
rough. the next day a man was killed and scalped by the indians he 
belonged to the town of Groton his name was davis : a very useful man 
and much Lamented." 

It has been a tradition that John Davis was killed 
by the Indians, but the date of his death was un- 
known ; this entry, however, seems to fix it. It is 
said to have happened in the early part of the even- 
ing, while he was taking in some clothes which had 
been washed and hung out to dry. He lived near the 
Groton School, where W. Dickson resided when the 
map in Mr. Butler's History was made; and Davis's 
Fordway, in the Hver near by, named after him, is 
still remembered by the older people of that neigh- 
borhood. 

It is not surprising that the inhabitants, upon the 
renewal of hostilities, were obliged to ask for help 
from the General Court. They had already suffered 
much in life and property, and were little able to 
bear new burdens. They represented to the Gover- 
nor that they had been greatly impoverished by their 
Loss of horses and cattle, of corn and hay, and that 
they were scarcely able to hold out much longer ; 
but the crowning calamity of all was the illness of the 
minister, Mr. Hobart, which prevented him from 
preaching. Their means were so limited that they 
could not support him and supply his place besides. 
They were obliged to earn their living at the peril of 
their lives ; and some were thinking to leave the 



GROTON. 47 

town. They spent so much time in watching and 
guarding that they seemed to be soldiers rather than 
farmers. Under these discouraging circumstances 
they asked for help from the Province, and were al- 
lowed out of the public treasury twenty pounds to 
assist them in procuring another minister, besides ten 
pounds to be divided among those who had been the 
greatest sufferers in the late attack upon them. 

Two years later another assault was made on the 
town, though with little damage. I again quote from 
Penhallow's History of the Wars of New England : 

" [July 21, 1706]. Several Strokes were afterwards made on Chelms- 
ford, Sudbury and Groton, where three Soldiers as they were going to 
publick Worship, were way-laid by a small Party, who kill'd two, and 
made the other a Prisoner." (Page 30.) 

A few additional particulars of these "Strokes" 
are found in the Rev. John Pike's Journal, printed 
in the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical 
Society for September, 1875: 

"July 21, 1706. Sab: 2 souldiers slain & one carried away by the 
enemy at Groton. They were all new-Cambridge [Newton] men & were 
returned to their Post from one Bloods house, who had invited y m to 
Dinner." (XIV. 143.) 

Marshall, in his Diary, briefly alludes to this affair, 
thus : 

1 ' on the 21 [July] they Killed 2 and took one captive at groton. 

The Rev. Jonathan Homer, in his History of 
Newton, as published in the Massachusetts Histori- 
cal Collections, V. 273, gives the names of these men 
as John Myrick, Nathaniel Healy and Ebenezer Se- 
ger, and says they were all three killed by the Indians. 
This statement, however, is inaccurate, as John My- 
rick was not one of the three soldiers, and, further- 



48 GROTON. 

more, was alive after this date. It is sufficiently 
clear from contemporaneous petitions among the 
Massachusetts Archives (LXXI. 345,419), that two 
of these men were brothers, by the name of Seger, 
and the third one was Nathaniel Healey. It was 
Ebenezer Seger who was killed, and, probably, Henry, 
Jr., who was taken prisoner. 

At various times in its early history, the town was 
threatened by bands of roving Indians, who did what- 
ever damage lay in their power to do. Such incur- 
sions kept the inhabitants on the alert, and from time 
to time companies were organized for the purpose of 
scouring the neighborhood. 

On March 12, 1694-95, an Act was passed by the 
General Court, which prohibited the desertion of fron- 
tier towns by the inhabitants unless permission was 
first granted by the Governor and Council. There were 
eleven such towns, and Groton was one of them. The 
law required the inhabitants of these out-towns, who 
owned land or houses, to take out a special license, 
on pain of forfeiting their property, before they could 
quit their homes and live elsewhere. Tt was thought 
that the interest of the Crown would be prejudiced, 
and encouragement given to the enemy, if any of 
these posts were deserted, or exposed by lessening 
their strength. Many towns were threatened by the 
Indians about this time, and a few were attacked. It 
is recorded that some of the settlers here left the 
town, and there was probably a movement among the 
inhabitants in other places to do the same. This 
fact undoubtedly occasioned the enactment, which was 
to remain in force " unto the end of the session of the 



GROTON. 49 

general assembly to convene in May, one thousand 
six hundred ninety-six (if the present war so long 
last), and no longer, nor afterwards." 

A similar Act was again passed on March 22, 1699- 
1700, which embraced fourteen frontier towns, of 
which Groton was one, and seven other towns that 
" lye more open than many others to an attack of an 
enemy." This enactment had a limitation in point of 
time similar to the preceding one. Subsequently this 
Act was revived on June 8, 1702, with the limitation, 
though no towns are specified by name; again on 
June 28, 1706, it was re-enacted, to remain in force 
until June 29, 1707 ; and still later, but not for the 
last time, it was passed on June 10, 1707. This con- 
tinuous legislation to prevent the desertion of the 
frontiers shows clearly the unsettled condition of the 
outlying towns during Queen Anne's War, and Groton 
was no exception. The inhabitants were now living 
in constant dread of the savages. Sometimes an ex- 
posed farm-house was attacked and burned, some of 
the inmates killed and others carried away in captiv- 
ity ; sometimes the farmer was shot down while at 
work in the field, or while going or coming. This 
was the fate of John Shattuck, and his eldest son John, 
a young man nineteen years of age, who were killed 
on May 8, 1709. 

They were returning from the west side of the Na- 
shua River, where Mr. Shattuck owned land, and 
were attacked just as they were crossing the Stony 
Fordway, near the present site of Hollingworth's pa- 
per-mills, where they were killed. At the time of his 
death Mr. Shattuck was one of the selectmen of the 
4 



50 GROTON. 

town. During the autumn of 1882 Messrs. Tiieston 
and Hollingworth, of Boston, at that time the owners 
of the mill, caused a suitable stone to be placed by 
the wayside, bearing the following inscription : 



NEAR THIS SPOT 

JOHN SHATTUCK, 

A SELECTMAN OF GROTON, 
AND 

his son john 
were killed by the indians, 

May 8, 1709, 
while crossing stony fordway, 

JUST BELOW THE PRESENT DAM. 
1882. 



A remarkable fatality seems to have followed Mrs. 
Shattuck's kindred. Her husband and eldest son 
were killed by the Indians, as has just been mentioned. 
Her father, James Blood, was likewise killed, Sep- 
tember 13, 1692. So also were her uncle, William 
Longley, his wife and five children, July 27, 1694 ; 
and three others of their children were carried away 
into captivity at the same time. A relative, James 
Parker, Jr., and his wife were killed in this assault, 
and their children taken prisoners. Her step-father, 
Enoch Lawrence, received a wound in an engagement 
with the Indians, probably in the same attack of July 
27, 1694, which almost wholly prevented him from 
earning a livelihood for himself and family. The 
three Tarbell children, who were carried off to Canada 
by the Indians, June 20, 1707, were cousins of Mrs. 
Shattuck. John Ames, who was shot by the savages 



GROTON. 51 

at the gate of his own garrison, July 9, 1724, was the 
father of Jacob, who married her niece, Euth Shat- 
tuck. And lastly, her son-in-law, Isaac Lakin, the 
husband of her daughter Elizabeth, was wounded in 
Lovew^elPs Fight at Pequawket, May 8, 1725. These 
calamities covered a period of only one generation, 
extending from the year 1692 to 1725. 

In a list of prisoners held by the French and In- 
dians in Canada, March 5, 1710-11, are the names of 
"Zech: Tarbal, John Tarbal, Sarah Tarbal, Matt. 
Farnsworth [and] Lydia Longley " (Archives, LXXI. 
765), all of Groton, though no date of capture is 
given. Lydia Longley was taken by the Indians on 
July 27, 1694, and the particulars of her case have 
already been told ; Matthias Farnsworth was captured 
in the summer of 1704; and the Tarbell children were 
carried off on June 20, 1707* Sarah, John and Zech- 
ariah were children of Thomas and Elizabeth (Wood) 
Tarbell, who with a large family, lived on Farmers' 
Row, near where James Lawrence's house now stands. 
Sarah was a girl nearly fourteen years of age, John a 
lad of twelve years and Zechariah only seven, at the 
time when they were taken. They were near kindred 
of the Longley family, who had been massacred 
thirteen years before. The father was unquestionably 
the Corporal Tarbell who commanded, in the autumn 
of 1711, one of the eighteen garrisons in the town. 

The story of their capture and captivity is a singu- 
lar one, and sounds like a romance. They were 
picking cherries early one evening, — so tradition re- 
lates, — and were taken before they had time to get 
down from the tree. It should be borne in mind that 



52 groton. 

the date of capture, according to the new style of 
reckoning, was July 1st, when cherries would be ripe 
enough to tempt the appetite of climbing youngsters. 
These children were carried to Canada, where, it 
would seem, they were treated kindly, as no induce- 
ment afterward was strong enough to make them re- 
turn permanently to their old home. The girl, Sarah, 
was sold to the French, and placed in a convent at 
Lachine, near Montreal ; but what became of her 
subsequently I am unable to say. 

Thomas Tarbell, the father of these children, made 
his will September 26, 1715, which was admitted to 
probate six weeks later, and is now on file at the 
Middlesex Probate Office in East Cambridge. After 
making certain bequests to different members of his 
family, he says : 

"all the rest and residue of myfReall Estate I give to be Equally di- 
vided between my three children, John, Zachary, & Sarah Tarbell, upon 
their return from Captivity, or In Proportion unto any of them that 
shall return, & the rest, or the parts belonging to them that do not re- 
turn, shall be Equally divided among the rest of my children." 

During my visit at Montreal in the summer of 
1877, I saw the Congregation of Notre Dame, the 
French record, of which the following is a trans- 
lation : 

" On Monday, July 23, 1708, the ceremony of baptism was performed 
on Sarah Tarbell, who was born at Groton in New England, October 9, 
1693. Her parents were Thomas Tarbell and Elizabeth Wood, both 
Protestants, and she was baptized by the minister shortly after her 
birth. Having been taken by the savages on Monday, June 20, 1707, 
she was brought to Canada ; she has since been sold, and has lived with 
the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame, established at Lachine, 
where she abjured her religion on May 1. Her godfather was M. 
Jacques Urbaiu Robert de Lamorandi^re, Secretary of M. 1' Intendaut ; 



GROTOX. 53 

and her godmother was Madame Marguerite Bouat, wife of M. Etienne 
Pascaud, the deputy treasurer of the King in this country. 
Her name Sarah has been changed to Marguerite. 
" Signed, 

"M<;te Bouat, 

"Pascaud, 

" Lamokandibre, 

"Meeiel, Pretre." 

The boys remained for many years with their cap- 
tors at Caughnawaga, an Indian village on the right 
bank of the St. Lawrence River, directly opposite to 
Lachine. 

It is supposed that they left this place about the 
year 1760, when they moved up the river, in order to 
establish another settlement. 

In the year 1713 John Stoddard and John Wil- 
liams were appointed by Governor Joseph Dudley to 
go to Quebec and treat with the Governor-General 
of Canada for the release of the New England pris- 
oners. They were accompanied by Thomas Tarbell, 
— probably the elder brother of the boys, — and we 
find his petition presented to the House of Repre- 
sentatives June 1, 1715, "praying consideration and 
allowance for his Time and Expences in going to 
Canada, with Major Stoddard & Mr. Williams, Anno 
1713, to recover the Captives." 

The petition was referred, and, on the next day, — 

"Capt. Noi/es, from the Committee for Petitions, made Beport on the 
Petition of Thomas Tarboll, viz. That they are of Opinion that nothing 
is due from the Province to the said Tarboll, since he proceeded as a 
Volunteer in that Service to Canada, & not imployed by the Govern- 
ment, but recommended him to the favour of the House." 

The report was accepted, and, in consideration of 
TarbelPs services, he was allowed ten pounds out of 



54 GROTOX. 

the public treasury. Captain Stoddard's Journal, 
giving an account of the negotiations, is printed in 
"The New England Historical and Genealogical 
Begister" (v. 26), for January, 1851, and Tarbell's 
name is mentioned in it. 

We find no further trace of these boys, now grown 
up to manhood, during the twenty-five years follow- 
ing this attempt to release the New England pris- 
oners. In the winter of 1739 John and Zechariah 
Tarbell came back to Groton in order to visit their 
kinsfolk and see their native town. They were so 
young when carried away that their recollections of 
the place were of course very indistinct. It is not 
known now under what circumstances or influences 
they returned. An itemized bill of the expense in- 
curred in bringing them back from Canada was 
made out against their brothers, Thomas and Samuel, 
and perhaps paid by them. Shortly afterward Thomas 
Tarbell petitioned the General Court for means to 
enable him to meet the necessary charges of the 
journey, besides the expenses of an interpreter; and 
a conditional loan was granted. The record does not 
say whether it was ever paid back by him. The pa- 
pers relating to the subject are among the Massachu- 
setts Archives (XV. A, 15-19). 

On April 20, 1739, Governor Belcher brought the 
case of these captives to the attention of the Council 
and the House of Representatives, when he made a 
speech, in which he said : 

" There are lately come from Canada some Persons that were taken 
by the Indians from Groton above thirty Years ago, who (its believed) 
may be induced to return into this Province, on your giving them some 
proper Encouragement : If this Matter might be effected, I should 



GROTON. 55 

think it would be not only an Act of Compassion in order to reclaim 
them from the Errors and Delusions of the Romish faith ; but their 
living among us might, in Time to come, be of great Advantage to the 
Province." 

On the same day the subject was referred to a 
Committee of the House, who reported a resolution 
which was sent to the Council for concurrence ; and 
on several occasions within a short time the same 
question came up in different forms. 

All these efforts, however, to reclaim the two men 
from savage life proved unavailing ; for it is known 
that they remained with the Indians and became nat- 
uralized, if I may use the expression. They married 
Indian wives, and were afterward made chiefs at 
Caughnawaga and St. Regis, villages in Canada. 
Their descendants are still living among the Indians, 
and the Tarbells of the present day, in this town, are 
their collateral kindred. Nearly forty years after 
their capture, Governor Hutchinson met them in 
New York State, and in his " History of the Province 
of Massachusetts Bay" refers to them thus :— 

"I saw at Albany two or three men, in the year 1744, who came in 
with the Indians to trade, and who had been taken at Groton in this, 

that is called Queen Ann's war. One of them, Tarbell, was said 

to be one of the wealthiest of the Cagnawaga tribe. He made a visit in 
his Indian dress, and with his Indian complexion (for by means of 
grease and paints but little difference could be discerned) to his rela- 
tions at Groton, but had no inclination to remain there." (II. 139.) 

Some years after this time, these two young men— 
now occupying the position of chiefs— moved up the 
St. Lawrence River, accompanied by several others, 
all with their families, and established the village of 
St. Regis. This Indian settlement is pleasantly situ- 
ated on the right bank of the St. Lawrence, the 



56 GROTOX. 

boundary line which separates the State of New York 
from Canada running through it. From its peculiar 
position, it was agreed, during the last war with Eng- 
land, that the Indians should remain neutral, but the 
compact was often broken. In the summer of 1852 
the tribe numbered about eleven hundred persons, of 
whom it is said that not one was of pure Indian origin. 

Many interesting facts concerning the Tarbells at 
St. Regis are found in the " History of St. Lawrence 
and Franklin Counties, New York" (Albany, 1853), 
by Dr. Franklin B. Hough. A part of the village 
comes within the limits of Franklin County ; and the 
author has gathered up some of the stories still told 
about these two brothers in that neighborhood. 

In former years the St. Regis Indians had certain 
rights in a land reservation in the State of New York ; 
and more than once treaties were made between the 
Governor of the State and the chiefs of the tribe, 
among whom were descendants of these Tarbell boys. 
A treaty was signed on February 20, 1818, in behalf of 
the Indians, by Loran Tarbell and Thomas Tarbell, 
and two other chiefs. Another treaty was signed on 
September 23, 1825, by eleven chiefs and trustees of 
the tribe, including Peter Tarbell, Thomas Tarbell, 
Mitchel Tarbell, Louis Tarbell, and Battice Tarbell. 
Some of these names, I am sure, will sound familiar 
to the older inhabitants of Groton. It is very likely 
that Battice is the same as Sabattis, an Indian name, 
which is said to be a corruption of Saint Baptiste. 

Dr. Hough writes about one of the earlier members 
of the family as follows : — 

" A half-breed Indian, who usually was known as Peter the Big 






GROTON. 57 

Speak, was a son of Lesor Tarbell, one of the lads who had been 
stolen away from Groton by the Indians, and who subsequently be- 
came one of the first settlers who preceded the founding of St. Regis. 

" He was a man of much address and ability as a speaker, and waa 
selected as the mouthpiece of the tribe on the more important occasions 
that presented themselves." (Page 182.) 

The statement is wrong, however, that Lesor was 
the name of one of the captured boys. It is perfectly 
well known that their names were John and Zecha- 
riah, but it is not improbable that one of their sons 
was named Lesor. If such was the case, it was in- 
tended, doubtless, for Eleazer, the name of their 
youngest brother, who was less than two months old 
when they were carried off. It certainly would be a 
touching tribute to their childish recollections if they 
had remembered this little babe at home and carried 
him in their thoughts for so many years. 

In the summer of 1877 I visited St. Regis, where I 
met a grandson of one of the Tarbell captives. He 
was more than eighty years old, and could speak only 
Indian ; and I had to talk with him through an inter- 
preter. I learned that he was aware that his grand- 
father had been taken when a boy, from a town near 
Boston, and that he had kinsfolk still living there. 
What interested me exceedingly was the physical re- 
semblance between him and some of his collateral 
relations, who lived and died at Squannacook within 
my recollection. He was a man of ordinary size, with 
a sunburnt face and gray hair, though somewhat bald. 
There was but little appearance of Indian blood in his 
veins, and he would have passed anywhere for a good- 
looking old man. He lived with one of his sons in a 
small house that was clapboarded and painted, — and 



58 GROTON. 

one of the best in the village, — where, surrounded by 
his grandchildren, he was passing the declining years 
of his life in comfortable ease. 

During the summer of 1723 " the Indian enemy" — 
as the early settlers were wont to call them — still 
threatened the western frontier towns. On August 
16, 1723, according to the printed Journal of the 
House of Representatives, Lieutenant-Governor Dum- 
mer, at that time the acting Governor of the Prov- 
ince, was desired immediately to order detachments 
of men, varying from three to six, from the inhabit- 
ants of the several towns along the line of outer set- 
tlements, to be constantly employed in scouting and 
ranging the woods in their respective towns ; and un- 
der this order Groton was to have six. On August 
24th it was ordered by the House of Representatives 
that these scouts should be placed under the direction 
of the chief military officer of the several towns, and 
such officer should receive five shillings a week for 
his services. Owing to informalities in the matter, a 
dispute arose between the House and the Lieutenant- 
Governor, who within two days sent two messages 
to that body, and some slight modifications were 
made in the original draft. 

Penhallow, in " The History of the Wars of New- 
England," speaking of the Indians at this period, 
says: 

" The next damage they did was at Groton, but were so closely pur- 
sued, that they left several of their Packs behind." (Page 102.) 

It was on Thursday, July 9, 1724, that John Ames 
was shot by an Indian, one of a small party that 
attacked his garrison in the northwesterly part of the 



GROTOX. 59 

town. Ames lived on the north side of the Nashua 
River, a short distance below the Hollingsworth 
paper-mills. He is said to be the last person killed 
by an Indian within the township. The Indian him- 
self was immediately afterward shot by Jacob Ames, 
one of John's sons. The Boston Gazette, July 13, 
1724, thus refers to the event : 

" A man was kill'd last Week at Groton, by the Indians, and 't is sup- 
pos'd one Indian was kill'd by one of our Men in the Garrison ; the In- 
dians left their Packs, 5 in number, which were taken and secur'd by the 
English." 

In the Gazette of July 27th it is said that "An Indian 
Scalp was brought to Town last Week from Groton." 

The New England Courant, July 13, 1724, reports 
that " Last Week the Indians kill'd a Man at Groton, 
and had one of their own Men very much wounded.'' 
The same newspaper, in its issue of July 27th, says 
that " The Scalp of an Indian lately kill'd at Gro- 
ton is brought to Town." 

Jacob Ames' petition for an "Allowance" or boun- 
ty, for killing the savage, is found in the printed 
Journal of the House of Representatives, November 
20, 1724. 

In the summer of 1722 the Provincial governments 
of Massachusetts and New Hampshire offered a bounty 
of a hundred pounds for every Indian's scalp that 
should be taken and shown to the proper authorities. 
This legislation incited volunteers to scour the wilder- 
ness for the purpose of hunting the savages, and with 
this motive Captain John Lovevvell, of Dunstable, 
organized a company which soon became famous. 

The story of Lovewell's Fight was for a long time 



60 GROTON. 

repeatedly told in this neighborhood, and there is 
scarcely a person who has not from early infancy 
heard the particulars of that eventful conflict. It 
was in the spring of 1725 that Captain Lovewell, with 
thirty-four men, fought a famous Indian chief, named 
Paugus, at the head of about eighty savages, near the 
shores of a pond in Pequawket, now within the limits 
of Fryeburg, Maine, and known as Lovewell's Pond. 
Of this little Spartan band ; seven belonged in this 
town; and one of them, John Chamberlain by name, 
distinguished himself by killing the Indian leader. 

The fullest account of the Fight is found in a 
pamphlet entitled, " Lovewell Lamented, or, A 
SERMON occasion'd by the Fall of the Brave Capt. 
John Lovewell and Several of his Valiant COM- 
PANY, in the late Heroic Action at Piggwacket Pro- 
nounc'd at Bradford, May 16, 1725 By Thomas 
Symmes,V.DM." (Boston, 1725.) The sermon con- 
tains an historical preface, duly attested by three of 
the company, which gives many particulars of this 
ill-fated expedition. It includes a list of the men who 
took part in the fight, with the names of the killed 
and wounded. According to this list, the following 
Groton men were members of Lovewell's company 
and present during the action : John Jefts, Daniel 
Woods, Thomas Woods, John Chamberlain, Elias 
Barron, John Gilson [Isaac Lakin ?], Joseph Gil- 
son ; of whom Thomas Woods, Daniel Woods and 
John Jefts were killed in the fight, and Elias Bar- 
ron, John Chamberlain and John Gilson [Isaac 
Lakin?], wounded. It is stated by Mr. Symmes, in 
his preface, that Barron subsequently " strayed from 



GROTON. 6 1 

the rest, and got over Ossipy River, by the side of 
which his Gun Case was found, & he has ner been 
heard of since." (Page viii.) Joseph Gilson was the 
only one of this quota who escaped injury. 

The first edition of the sermon was pub- 
lished on July 1st, and exhausted in a very few days. 
A second edition was issued about the middle of 
July, with a title-page somewhat changed from the 
original one, as follows : " Historical Memoirs Of the 
Late Fight at Piggwacket, with a SERMON Occa- 
sion'd by the Fall of the Brave Capt John Lovewell 
And Several of his Valiant Company ; in the late 
Heroic Action there. Pronouuc'd at Bradford, May 
16, 1725 By Thomas Symmes, V.D.M. The Sec- 
ond Edition Corrected." (Boston, 1725.) In this 
edition the running title of " An Historical 
PREFACE " is changed to " Memoirs of the Fight at 
Piggwacket." A few corrections are made ; in the 
list both of the soldiers and of the wounded, the 
name of Isaac Lakin is given in the place of John 
Gilson's. 

Captain Lovewell, the commander of the company, 
was a brave officer and a noted man. He w r as at this 
time in the prime of life, and ambitious to distinguish 
himself. He had previously led two successful expe- 
ditions against the Indians, and his very name in- 
spired confidence. Only a few weeks before, his sec- 
ond expedition had returned to Dover, New Hamp- 
shire, where he made a triumphal entry at the head 
of his company. They bore ten Indian scalps 
stretched on hoops, and were received with great joy 
and excitement; thence they proceeded to Boston, 



62 GROTON. 

where they were paid a large bounty by the govern- 
ment. The following Groton men were members of 
the company which went on this second expedition : 
Jacob Ames, Ephraim Farnsworth, Reuben Farns- 
worth, Benjamin Parker, Samuel Shattuck, Samuel 
Tarbell and Henry Willard. Throughout New Eng- 
and, Lovewell's daring was made the subject of talk, 
and the public looked to him as a natural leader in 
border warfare. 

With the small force now at his command, the 
heroic captain pressed forward to meet, the enemy, 
and in a few days reached the borders of Saco Pond, 
since known as Lovewell's Pond, southeast of the 
present village of Fryeburg, Maine. On the morn- 
ing of Saturday, May 8th, while engaged at prayers 
they heard a gun, and shortly afterward discovered 
an Indian on a point of land which ran into the 
pond. They were distrustful of an ambush, and a 
consultation was held in order to see whether they 
should advance or retreat. Their decision was to pro- 
ceed at all hazards. They said: "We came out to 
meet the Enemy ; we have all along prayed GOD we 
might find 'em ; and we had rather trust Providence 
with our Lives, yea Dy for our Country, than try to 
Return without seeing them, if we may, and be called 
Cowards for our Pains." After this answer, Lovewell 
ordered his men to move forward cautiously ; and 
they soon reached a place where they halted and took 
off their packs, and piled them up together. Leaving 
these behind without a guard, and advancing a short 
distance, they came upon the Indian whom they had 
previously descried. He was returning to his com- 



GROTON. 63 

panions with some game that he had killed. Several 
guns were instantly discharged at him, when he in 
turn fired and wounded Captain Lovewell and another 
man; after which he was killed and scalped. The 
company then turned back, and with their wounded 
leader repaired to the place where they had left their 
packs. In the meanwhile Paugus, the far-famed 
chief of the Pequawkets, at the head of eighty war- 
riors on their way home from a marauding expedi- 
tion, had discovered the pile of packs, and, counting 
them, had learned the number of the English. Find- 
ing that the force was much less than his own, Paugus 
placed his men in ambush and awaited the return of 
Lovewell. When the company came up for their 
packs, the Indians with hideous yells rushed forth 
suddenly from their hiding-places and began to fire. 
The brave captain ordered his men to return it, which 
was done with terrible effect. Lovewell himself fell 
at the first shot, and eight of his men soon shared the 
same fate. Ensign Wyman, of Woburn, then as- 
sumed the command, and, perceiving that the Indians 
were trying to surround them, ordered a retreat to the 
pond, where he took his stand. A ledge of rocks pro- 
jecting into the water on one side of him, and a deep 
brook on the other, made a position favorable for de- 
fence. The fighting continued, and during the day 
the savages vainly endeavored to compel the valiant 
band to surrender ; but they would not listen to the 
proposition. Paugus was slain in the action by John 
Chamberlain, of Groton. After the death of their 
chief the Indians became somewhat disheartened, 
and for a time withdrew from the skirmish. Later in 



64 GROTON. 

the day the combat was resumed, when, it is supposed, 
the enemy received reinforcements, but with no deci- 
sive result. As night approached they again with- 
drew, and left this little forlorn band masters of the 
field. 

About midnight the survivors, with the excep- 
tion of three men mortally wounded and unable to 
travel, fell back and directed their course to the fort, 
where they expected to find their former companions ; 
but in this hope they were sadly disappointed. It 
seems that, at the beginning of the fight, a member of 
the company, escaping, made his way to the fort, and 
reported that Lovewell and his men were all cut to 
pieces, which he may have believed. Disappointed 
at finding the fort abandoned, the survivors of this 
memorable command made their way back to the set- 
tlements as best they could, coming in at different 
places along the frontier line. 

The name of Lovewell at once became famous, and 
the story of the expedition was told in every house- 
hold, and even in the pulpit. It was made the subject 
of ballads, which w r ere sung at family firesides, and 
excited the popular heart with the memory of the 
brave and adventurous leader. Peace soon followed 
the action at Pequawket, and deep and sincere was 
the public feeling at its restoration. 

John Chamberlain, the surviving hero of LovewelPs 
Fight, was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Cham- 
berlain, of Chelmsford, where he was born March 29, 
1692. The father was a carpenter and miller, who 
afterwards removed to Groton, and lived about a 
quarter of a mile northerly of Wattle's Pond, on the 



GROTON. 65 

left-hand side of the road to Hollis. He is supposed 
to have died about the year 1709. After the fight 
the sou was known as "Paugus John," and bore that 
name through life. He owned a mill, situated near 
Brown Loaf, on a small stream formed by the con- 
fluence of Martin's Pond Brook and another, now 
called Paugus Brook. 

His death took place about the year 1756, though 
no record of it is found. The appraisal of his estate 
was made on March 31, 1756, according to papers on 
file in the Middlesex Probate Office at East Cam- 
bridge. 

If ever young Paugus came to Groton in order to 
avenge his father's death, and it seems probable from 
tradition that he did, it was undoubtedly at this place, 
Furthermore, there is a deep hole in Paugus Brook, 
known since the last century as Paugus Hole, where- 
in it is said that Chamberlain sunk the body of the 
Indian, after he had killed him. A small elm stands 
on the south bank of the brook, very near the place. 

Many other tales about the Indians have come 
down by tradition, and some of them are probably 
true. The following story, told me by the late Charles 
Woolley, refers to Isaac Lakin, one of Lovewell's 
men : 

Lakin lived in a log-house near the Nashua River, 
in the north part of the town. The house had no 
glass windows, but had shutters instead, and a door 
that swung on wooden hinges. One day an Indian 
was seen lurking about the house, and hiding behind 
the stumps, apparently bent on mischief. Lakin 
seized his gun, and, standing 1 at a crack in the 
5 



66 GROTON. 

shutters, told his wife to swing the door so that it 
would creak on its hinges. Hearing the noise, and 
seeing the door open, the Indian sprang from behind 
a stump, and started for the house, when Lakin fired 
and shot him dead. Seeing no sign of other Indians, 
after dark he dug a hole and buried him. 

In the year* 1744 war was again declared between 
England and France, called by the English colonists 
King George's War. Civilization had now pushed 
the belt of frontier towns far into the wilderness; and 
Groton was no longer exposed to the assaults of the 
Indians, though at times threatened with danger. 
Her sons and soldiers, however, were still found 
during this period, on the outer rim of settlements, 
whenever and wherever their services were needed, 
either to extend the borders or to defend them. A 
military organization was kept up in the town, ready 
for emergencies here or elsewhere in the neighbor- 
hood. 

The first settlement of Charlestown, N. H.— then 
known as No. 4, — was made in the year 1740, by three 
brothers, Samuel, David, and Stephen Farnsworth, 
natives of Groton ; and they were soon followed by 
Isaac Parker and his sons, and Obadiah Sawtell, also 
of this town. The Farnsworths were leading men at 
Charlestown, and they distinguished themselves on 
several occasions in fights with the Indians. Samuel 
Farnsworth, the eldest brother, was killed in a 
skirmish, May 2, 1746. David was taken prisoner 
by a party of French Indians, April 20, 1757, and 
carried to Canada. He managed to escape, and 
reached home not a long time probably after his cap- 



GROTOX. 67 

ture. Stephen, the youngest brother, had also his 
bitter experience with the enemy. He was captured 
April 19, 1746, and taken to Montreal, where he re- 
mained seventeen long months before he was ex- 
changed. His health was so broken down by the 
hardships of his captivity that he never fully regained 
it. He died September 6, 1771, leaving behind the 
reputation of a brave man and a good citizen. 

Ebenezer Farnsworth, a native of Groton and a 
kinsman of the three brothers just mentioned, was 
captured August 30, 1754, by the St. Francis Indians, 
at Charlestown. He was carried to Montreal and held 
a prisoner during three years. His ransom was paid 
in the summer of 1755, but he was not then set at 
liberty. Mrs. Susanna Johnson and her sister, Miriam 
Willard, were taken at the same time. They were 
both daughters of Moses Willard, who had formerly 
lived in the south part of this town. A full account of 
the affair is given in " A Narrative of the Captivity 
of Mrs. Johnson," published at Walpole, New Hamp- 
shire, in 1796. Two years later, on June 18, 1756, 
Moses Willard, the father, was killed by the Indians, 
at Charlestown ; and in the same attack his son, 
Moses, Jr., had a narrow escape from death by the 
hands of the savages, being severely wounded at the 
time. 

Lieutenant Isaac Parker was taken by the In- 
dians at the same time with Stephen Farnsworth, 
and remained in captivity until the following winter, 
when he was returned to Boston under a flag of 
truce. 

The Sawtell family is also largely represented in 



68 GROTOX. 

Charlestown, where the name is now spelled Sartwell. 
It is a numerous family in that town, and they sprang 
from the early settler, Obadiah. who went from 
Groton. He, too, had a sad experience in savage 
warfare, and once was captured by the Indians. He 
was taken by them on May 24, 1746, and remained a 
prisoner until August 20, 1747. He finally met his 
death at their hands on June 17, 1749, being attacked 
while ploughing in his corn-field, unsuspicious of any 
danger. 

Charles Holden, Isaac Holden and Seth Walker, 
natives of Groton, were early settlers and proprietors 
of Charlestown. Moses Wheeler was another pioneer 
and a distinguished soldier, taking part in some of 
the fiercest encounters of the French and Indian 
War. He was a large man and noted for his strength. 
He was called by the Indians " the strong man." 
Moses Willard, Isaac Farwell and Micha Fuller, other 
settlers, were also from this town. Eleazer Priest, 
son of Joseph Priest, of Groton, arid a soldier, was 
captured by the Indians, on March 15, 1748, at 
Charlestown, and died at Louisburg, Nova Scotia, in 
September of that year, while on his way home. 

The earliest minister of Groton was the Reverend 
John Miller, who graduated at Gonvil and Caius Col- 
lege, Cambridge, England, in the year 1627, and came 
to this country in 1637. For a short time he lived in 
Roxbury, where he was one of the elders in Eliot's 
church. From the year 1639 to 1641, and perhaps 
later, he was settled in the ministry at Rowley as as- 
sistant to the Reverend Ezekiel Rogers ; and during 
this period he filled the office of town clerk. He was 



GROTON. 69 

made a freeman of Massachusetts on May 22, 1639. In 
the autumn of 1641 he was waited on by messengers from 
Woburn, who desired his services for their church ; 
but they found " Mr. Roggers loth to part with him." 
Johnson, in his " Wonder- Working Providence of 
Sion's Saviour, in New England," refers to him both 
in prose and verse. The following is a specimen of 
the poetry : — 

" With courage bold Miller through Seas doth venter, 
To Toyl it out in the great Western wast, 
Thy stature low one object high doth center; 
Higher than Heaven thy faith on Christ isplac't: " 

—Chap. XI., p. 131. 

From Rowley Mr. Miller removed to Yarmouth, 
where he was settled as a preacher, though the date of 
his removal to that town is not recorded. Nor is it 
known exactly when he came to Groton,but probably 
at some time during 1662, as in that year the town 
voted to build a house for the minister. On March 
18, 1663, a vote was passed asking him " to continue 
still with vs for our further edincat[ion]," which 
shows that he was preaching at that date; but in three 
short months his labors ceased and he went to take 
his reward. In the first return of deaths, made by 
the town clerk of Groton to the recorder of the 
county, it says: — 

" M r . Jn°. Miller, minister of Gods holy word died. 
June 12 th 1663." 

The second minister of Groton was the Reverend 
Samuel Willard, a son of Major Simon and Mary 
(Sharpe) Willard, and born at Concord, on January 
31, 1639-40. He graduated at Harvard College in 



70 GROTOX. 

the class of 1659, and was the only member who 
took his second degree. He began to preach at Gro- 
ton probably late in the year 1662, or early in 1663. 
In the latter year, on the 21st of June, it was voted 
" that M r . Willard if he accept of it shall be 
their minester as long as he liues w c M r . Willard ac- 
cepts Except a manifest providenc of God apears to 
take him off." 

Mr. Willard was a scholar and writer of consider- 
able note in his day, and even now would be con- 
sidered such. But little is known of his early history ; 
and no church-record during his ministry at Groton 
is extant. Coming here in the vigor of young man- 
hood, at the age of twenty-three, — if we may judge 
him from the high position he afterward attained, — it 
is fair to assume that he exerted a strong influence in 
this neighborhood. It is probable that his early ex- 
periences on the outer rim of civilization fitted him 
for the places of honor and dignity that he was subse- 
quently called upon to fill. A few weeks after his 
settlement he married Abigail, a daughter of John 
Sherman, minister of Watertown ; and, after her 
death, he married, as his second wife, Eunice, daughter 
of Edward Tyng. He had a large family of children, 
of whom five were born in this town. One of his 
great-grandsons, Robert Treat Paine, was a signer of 
the Declaration of Independence. 

In the year .1673, Mr. Willard published a volume 
of sermons entitled, " Useful Instructions for a pro- 
fessing People in Times of great Security and Degen- 
eracy : delivered in several Sermons on Solemn 
Occasions." 



GROTON. 71 

It consists of three sermons, of which one was 
preached on the occasion of a case of witchcraft which 
occurred in Groton. It is evident, from a reference in 
the sermon, that the fame or notoriety of the case had 
spread far from this town. Mr. Willard says : " There 
is a voice in it to the whole Land, but in a more es- 
pecial manner to poor Groton; it is not a Judgement 
afar off, but it is near us, yea among us." 

The book is inscribed, " To his Beloved Friends the 
Inhabitants of Groton." Like all the publications of 
that time, it is purely theological, and contains 
nothing now of particular interest. If he had given 
us even a few lines of town history, it would be almost 
invaluable. We look in vain through its pages for any 
thing that throws light on the manners and customs 
of the early settlers. We do find, however, the modes 
and habits of thought that were prevalent in those 
days ; and with these we must be content, for the ser- 
mons furnish nothing more. 

After the town was burned by the Indians in the 
spring of 1676 and the settlement deserted, Mr. Wil- 
lard became the pastor of the Old South Church in 
Boston, w T here he died on September 12, 1707. 

The third minister was the Reverend Gershom Ho- 
bart, a son of the Reverend Peter Hobart, of Hing- 
ham, and a graduate of Harvard College in the class 
of 1667. In the early spring of 1678, just two years 
after the attack on the town, the old settlers returned 
to their former houses ; and Mr. Hobart accompanied 
them, or soon followed. He was not ordained, how- 
ever, until November 26, 1679; and soon afterward 
troubles between the people and the preacher began 



72 GROTON. 

to spring up. There was the usual controversy about 
the site of the new meeting-house, which is not pecu- 
liar to this town or to that period, but is common to- 
day here and elsewhere ; and there was a dispute over 
the minister's salary. Mr. Hobart's pastorate was 
anything but happy and harmonious, and he appears 
to have left Groton about 1690. The records of this 
period are very meagre, but contain brief allusions to 
his absence. During the next two years there was 
no settled minister of the town, though the inhabit- 
ants were not without stated preaching. The Reverend 
John Hancock filled the pulpit for several months 
and received a call to become the minister, which 
was declined. He was the grandfather of John Han- 
cock, Governor of the Commonwealth and signer of 
the Declaration of independence. 

The fourth minister was the Reverend Samuel Car- 
ter, who came on an invitation given by the town, on 
October 21, 1692. It is evident, from the scanty records, 
that he accepted the call and remained with his peo- 
ple until the time of his death, which took place in 
the autumn of 1693. According to papers on file in 
the Middlesex Probate Office at East Cambridge, ad- 
ministration on his estate was granted on October 
30th of that year. Mr. Carter was the eldest son of 
Thomas Carter, first minister of Woburn, and born 
on August 8, 1640. He graduated at Harvard Col- 
lege in the class of 1660, and, before coming to Gro- 
ton, had been preaching at Lancaster for a consider- 
able length of time. He was followed in time by 
Gershom Hobart, who became the fifth minister as 
well as the third, in the order of settlement. Mr. 



GROTON. 73 

Hobart came back to his former parish in the autumn 
of 1693, but it is not now known how the reconcilia- 
tion was brought about between him and the town, 
as the church records of that period are lost ; perhaps 
t was throu gh an ecclesiastical council. He contin- 
ued to preach here until about the end of the year 
1704, when he gave up his charge. His dwelling 
stood on the site of the present Baptist meeting- 
house, and, at one time during the Indian wars, was 
used as a garrison-house. On July 27, 1694, it was 
captured by the savages, when one of Mr. Hobart's 
children was killed, and another, Gershom, Jr., a lad 
eight or ten years old, was carried off a prisoner 
and held in captivity during nearly a year. Mr. Ho- 
bart, the father, died at Groton on December 19, 
1705. 

During the year 1705 the pulpit appears to have 
been filled by John Odly, as the records have it, and 
probably the same as John Odlin, a native of Boston 
and a graduate of Harvard College in the class of 1702. 
On July 3, 1705, he received a call to be the " town's 
minister and the church's officer," which was not ac- 
cepted. 

The fifth minister was the Reverend Dudley Brad- 
street, a son of Dudley Bradstreet, of Andover, and 
a grandson of Governor Simon Bradstreet. He was 
born at Andover on April 27, 1678, and a graduate of 
Harvard College in the class of 1698. He was the 
first master of the grammar school in his native town, 
where he was teaching as early as the year 1704, and 
perhaps earlier. 

It is highly probable that he was connected with 



74 GROTON. 

this school when he received his invitation to come 
to Groton. On May 4, 1704, he was married to Mary 
Wain w right, and they had three sons, and perhaps 
other children. Mr. Bradstreet was preaching here 
as early as March, 1706, but was not ordained until 
November 27th of that year. Under a vote of May 8, 
,1706, a house " of 38 foot long and 18 foot wide " was 
built for the minister, which is still standing, and in 
a state of good preservation. It is situated on the 
east side of Hollis Street, and the present measure- 
ments conform very nearly to the dimensions given 
in the records. 

In the summer of 1712 Mr. Bradstreet was dismissed 
from his charge in this town, presumably for his 
Episcopal tendencies ; and soon afterward he went 
to England to apply for orders in the Anglican 
Church. It appears from a copy of the original docu- 
ment in Latin, made in a manuscript volume, (page 
90), by President John Leverett now deposited 
among the archives of Harvard University in the 
College Library, that he was ordained a deacon by 
the Bishop of London, on April 18, 1714, and a priest 
one week later, on April 25th. He died of small-pox 
during the next month, only two or three weeks after 
receiving priestly orders ; and tidings of his death 
reached this country in the following summer. 

The sixth minister was the Reverend Caleb Trow- 
bridge, a son of Deacon James Trowbridge, of New- 
ton. He was born on November 17, 1692, and grad- 
uated at Harvard College in the class of 1710. On 
March 10, 1715, he was married, first, to Sarah Oliver, 
of Newton; and on September 18, 1718, to Hannah 



GROTON. t 5 

Walter, of Roxbury. Mr. Trowbridge was blessed 
w T ith a family of nine children, and until recently 
some of his descendants were living at Groton. He 
died on September 9, 1760, and lies buried in the old 
burying-ground, where the inscription on a slab of 
slate laid over his grave makes a just statement of his 
religious and social character. 

The seventh minister was the Reverend Samuel 
Daua, son of William Dana, and born in that part of 
Cambridge which is now Brighton, on January 14, 
1738-39. He was a graduate of Harvard College in 
the class of 1755, and ordained in the ministry at 
Groton on June 3, 1761. No articles of faith or 
church covenant appear on the church records until 
the period of his settlement. On May 6, 1762, he 
was married to Anna Kenrick, of Newton ; and they 
had five children born at Groton. His pastorate 
appears to have been harmonious until the political 
troubles of the Revolution began to crop out, when a 
sermon preached by him in the early spring of 177-3 
gave great offence to his parish. Mr. Dana's sympa- 
thies were with the Crown, while those of the people 
were equally strong on the other side; and the ex- 
citement over the matter ran so high that he was 
compelled to give up his charge. After his dismissal 
from the town and church he remained at Groton 
during some years, preaching for a year and a half to 
a Presbyterian society, then recently organized ; and 
later he removed to Amherst, New Hampshire, 
where he died on April 2, 1798. 

The eighth minister was the Reverend Daniel 
Chaplin, a son of Jonathan Chaplin, of Rowley, 



76 GROTON. 

where he was born on December 30, 1743. He grad- 
uated at Harvard College in the class of 1772, and 
studied theology under the tuition of the Reverend 
Samuel Haven, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He 
was ordained at Groton on January 1, 1778, when he 
became pastor of the First Parish, and he continued 
to hold this relation until the time of his death, on 
April 8, 1831, being the last minister settled by the 
town. The degree of D.D. was conferred upon him 
by his Alma Mater in the year 1817. On June 24, 1779, 
he was married to Susanna, eldest daughter of the 
Honorable James and Susanna (Lawrence) Prescott, 
of Groton. After their marriage they lived for awhile 
in the house built by Colonel William Lawrence, who 
was Mrs. Chaplin's grandfather. It was situated on 
the north corner of Main and Court Streets, lat- 
terly the site of Liberty Hall, which was burned 
on March 31, 1878; and subsequently they removed 
to the dwelling built by Major William Swan, and 
situated on School Street, north of the burying- 
ground. 

Dr. Chaplin's youngest daughter, Mrs. Sarah 
(Chaplin) Rockwood, died in Cortland, Cortland 
County, New York, on November 26, 1889, at the re- 
markable age of 104 years and eighteen days. 

The ninth minister was the Reverend Charles Rob- 
inson, the eldest son of Caleb Robinson, of Exeter, 
New Hampshire, where he was born on July 25, 
1793. He graduated at Harvard College in the class 
of 1818, and was ordained over the Unitarian Church 
at Eastport, Maine, where he remained two years and 
a half. Mr. Robinson was installed at Groton on No- 



! 



GROTON. 



77 



vember 1, 1826, and resigned his charge in October, 
1838. He was afterward settled at Medfield and at 
Peterborough, New Hampshire, but in the year 1860 
he returned to Groton, where he resided until his 
death, on April 9, 1862. During his residence here 
he was married, on July 3, 1827, to Jane, only daugh- 
ter of the Honorable Stuart John Park, of Groton, 
who died on March 23, 1828 ; and subsequently to 
three other wives. 

The tenth minister was the Rev. George Wads- 
worth Wells, son of Seth and Hannah (Doane) Wells, 
of Boston, where he was born on October 17, 1804. 
He graduated at Harvard College in the class of 
1823, and then pursued his theological studies at the 
Harvard Divinity School. For a while he preached 
in Boston and Baltimore, and, on October 24, 1827, 
was ordained at Kennebunk, Maine, as colleague pas- 
tor of the first Congregational Church in that town, 
where he remained during eleven years. On Novem- 
ber 21, 1838, Mr. Wells was installed over the First 
Parish in Groton, where he preached with great ac- 
ceptance and success until his death, which took 
place on March 17, 1843. The last time that he of- 
ficiated in the pulpit was on Sunday, February 5th of 
that year. He was married on May 30, 1833, to 
Lucia Gardner, daughter of John Fairfield, of Bos- 
ton. Just before graduation at college, his middle 
name was inserted by an Act of the Legislature, on 
June 14, 1823. 

The eleventh minister was the Reverend Joseph 
Couch Smith, a native of Waltham, where he was 
born on July 18, 1819. He graduated at Bowdoin 



78 GROTON. 

College in the class of 1838, and subsequently passed 
two years at the Andover Theological Seminary. On 
October 11, 1842, he was ordained in Portland as an 
Evangelist. After Mr. Wells's death he came to Gro- 
ton, and was installed on July 12, 1843. Here he re- 
mained during eight years, working diligently and 
faithfully in the cause of his Master, to which he had 
devoted his life. Finally the loss of his health com- 
pelled him to ask a dismission, and his relations to 
the society ceased in August, 1851. After passing 
six or eight months in foreign travel, and returning 
home much invigorated, he was called to the Chan- 
ning Congregational Church, at Newton. Here he 
preached for four years, when his physical infirmi- 
ties again compelled him to seek retirement from his 
cares and labors ; and he sailed for the Sandwich Isl- 
ands in the hope that he would still be able to act as 
an agent of the American Unitarian Association, but 
in this he was disappointed. After a rapid decline 
he died at Honolulu, of consumption, on December, 
29, 1857. 

Mr. Smith was twice married,— first, on August 31, 
1843, to Augusta Hepsibah, daughter of Ivory and 
Louisa (McCulloch) Lord, of Kennebunk, Maine ; 
and secondly, on December 8, 1846, to Margaret Ann, 
daughter of George and Margaret (Shattuck) Brig- 
ham, of Groton. His first wife died at Groton, on 
June 20, 1844, and his widow in Lowell, on March 
31, 1864. 

The twelfth minister was the Eev. Crawford Night- 
ingale, a son of Samuel and Elizabeth Kinnicut, 
(Thompson) Nightingale, and born in Providence? 






GROTON. 79 

R. I., on November 3, 1816. He graduated at Brown 
University in the class of 1834, and at the Harvard 
Divinity School in 1838, and was ordained as an 
Evangelist, in Providence, on November 7, 1838. He 
was married, on May 13, 1846, to Mary Hoyt, daugh- 
ter of William Henry and Frances Wiswall (Hum- 
phrey) Williams, of Athol. Mr. Nightingale was 
settled over the parish on January 26, 1853, and 
received his dismissal on September 1, 1866, though 
he continued to be a resident of the town until the 
year 1875. Before coming here he held a pastorate 
at Chicopee, and had previously acted as a mission- 
ary in Toledo, 0., and in Chicago. He has now re- 
tired from the laborious duties of his profession, 
though he preaches occasionally, and is living at 
Dorchester. 

The thirteenth minister was the Rev. George Mc- 
Kean Folsom, a son of Charles and Susanna Sarah 
(McKean) Folsom, and born in Cambridge on Feb- 
ruary 6, 1837. He graduated at Harvard College in 
the class of 1857, and at the Harvard Divinity School 
in 1866. He was ordained at Groton on December 
12, 1866, and married, on January 8, 1867, to Susan 
Cabot, daughter of Charles, Jr., and Susan (Cabot) 
Jackson, of Boston. In April, 1869, he left Groton 
and removed to Dedham, where he was installed 
over another parish. He died in Boston on May 20, 
1882, and his wife at Dedham on June 27, 1871. An 
only child, a daughter, born at Groton on November 
16, 1867, survives the parents. 

The fourteenth minister was the Rev. John Martin 
Luther Babcock, a son of James Babcock, of Ando- 



80 GROTON. 

ver, Me., where he was born on September 29, 1822. 
His father's family removed to Boston in the year 
1825, where he remained until 1846. In early life he 
studied for the Baptist ministry, and joined the cleri- 
cal profession in 1852, though he was not ordained 
until January, 1854. He held pastorates at different 
towns in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, but 
later he changed his denominational relations and 
entered the Unitarian pulpit, being settled at Lancas- 
ter, N. H., before coming to this town. He was in- 
stalled over the First Parish on April 26, 1871, though 
he had been preaching here since December 1, 1870, 
and received his dismission on August 31, 1874, 
though he continued to fill the pulpit until April 1, 
1875. Since leaving Groton he has given up the 
profession. On November 30, 1843, he was married 
(first) to Martha Day Ayer, of Plaistow, N. H., who 
died on January 26, 1846 ; and, secondly, on April 5, 
1849, to Miriam Clement Tewksbury, of Wilmot, who 
died at New Hampton, N. H., on September 22, 1888. 
The fifteenth minister was the Rev. Joshua Young, 
a son of Aaron and Mary (Coburn) Young, and born 
at Pittston, Me., on September 29, 1823. He gradu- 
ated at Bowdoin College in the class of 1845, and at 
the Harvard Divinity School in 1848. He was mar- 
ried, on February 14, 1849, to Mary Elizabeth, daugh- 
ter of Dr. Sylvanusand Mary Bell (Warland) Plymp- 
ton, of Cambridge. Mr. Young was settled in Gro- 
ton at the beginning of 1875, and still continues to 
be the minister of the parish. Before coming to this 
town he had held pastorates in Burlington, Vt., and 
in Hingham and Fall River. On commencement, 






GROTOX. 81 

June 26, 1890, he received the honorary degree of 
Doctor of Divinity from his Alma Mater. 

The formation of a second church in Groton dates 
back to the summer of 1825, when the venerable Dr. 
Chaplin, enfeebled by age, became so infirm that he 
required the help of an assistant. At that time he 
was well past eighty years, and the powers of a vig- 
orous manhood were beginning to fail him. On Sun- 
day afternoon, July 10, 1825, a very hot day, Dr. 
Chaplin, near the end of his sermon, fainted in his 
pulpit ; and soon after the question of settling a col- 
league pastor came up. This matter gave rise to 
much controversy and discussion, and resulted in a 
division of the old parish into two societies. 

It happened during a period when throughout 
the Commonwealth many of the Congregational 
Churches were undergoing great changes in their 
creed, and were forming new lines of theological be- 
lief. Few persons of the present day are aware of the 
bitter animosity that prevailed in New England at 
that time, when these churches were torn asunder by 
internal dissensions, and of the sectarian feeling that 
followed the division of the parishes. At the begin- 
ning of the troubles the Reverend John Todd, a grad- 
uate of the Andover Theological Seminary in the class 
of 1825, had received a call to become a colleague pas- 
tor with Rev. Dr. Chaplin, but which, owing to cer- 
tain informalities, was never recognized by the town, 
and over his settlement the main controversy had 
arisen. The second society, made up of those who 
had now separated from the First Parish, was duly 
organized and a house of worship built, which was 
6 



82 GROTON. 

dedicated to the service of God on January 3, 1827, 
and at the same time Mr. Todd was ordained in the 
ministry. He remained as pastor of this society, 
which became known as the Union Congregational 
Church, until January 8, 1833, when he was dismissed 
at his own request. 

The Keverend John Todd was the eldest child of 
Dr. Timothy and Phebe (Bud) Todd, and born in 
Rutland, Vt., on October 9, 1800. He graduated at 
Yale College in the class of 1822, and then entered 
the Theological Seminary at Andover. On March 11, 
1827, he was married to Mary Skinner, daughter of 
the Reverend Joab Brace, of Newington, Conn., who 
died at Pittsfield on April 29, 1889. After leaving 
Groton, Dr. Todd held pastorates at Northampton, 
Philadelphia and Pittsfield, where he died on August 
24, 1873, after an illness of three months. In the year 
1845 the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred 
upon him by Williams College. He was the author 
of more than thirty volumes, besides many sermons 
and pamphlets, including among them "The Stu- 
dent's Manual," a work which has exerted a wide in- 
fluence on the young men of the country. 

The second minister of the Union Church was the 
Reverend Charles Baker Kittredge, a son of Josiah 
and Mary (Baker) Kittredge, and born at Mount Ver- 
non, N. H., on July 4, 1806. He graduated at Dart- 
mouth College in the class of 1828, and at the Ando- 
ver Theological Seminary in 1832. He was ordained 
at Groton on October 15, 1833, but the time of his 
ministry here was short, as he was dismissed on 
August 31, 1835. After leaving this town he was set- 






GROTON. 83 

tied over various parishes in different places, and died 
at Westborough on November 25, 1884. Mr. Kit- 
tredge was married, on July 9, 1830, to Sarah, daugh- 
ter of Charles and Susanna (Bayliss) Brigham, of 
Grafton, who died on March 26, 1871. 

The third minister was the Reverend Dudley 
Phelps, a native of Hebron, Conn., where he was 
born on January 25, 1798, and a graduate of Yale 
College in the class of 1823, and of the Andover The- 
ological Seminary in 1827. He was ordained at 
Haverhill on January 9, 1828, where he remained 
until the year 1833, and during 1834 and 1835 was 
the editor of the Salem Landmark. Mr. Phelps was 
installed at Groton on October 19, 1836, where he 
continued as pastor of the church until his death, 
which took place on September 24, 1849. He was 
the father of the late Hon. Benjamin Kinsman Phelps, 
district attorney of New York, an only child by the 
first wife, who was Ann Kinsman, of Portland, Me. 
The second wife was Lucretia, daughter of the Hon. 
Benjamin Mark and Lucretia (Gardner) Farley, of 
Hollis, N. H., and of Groton, to whom he was mar- 
ried on October 12, 1837. 

The fourth minister was the Reverend Edwin 
Adolphus Buikley, a son of Erastus and Mary (Wal- 
bridge) Buikley, and born in Charleston, S. C, on 
January 25, 1826. He graduated at Yale College in 
the class of 1844, and at the Union Theological Sem- 
inary in 1848, and was married, on September 28, 
1848, at Huntington, Long Island, N. Y., to Cath- 
arine Fredrica, daughter of Daniel and Catharine 
Fredrica (Kunze) Oakley. Mr. Buikley was installed 



84 GKOTON. 

over the society on September 18, 1850, and dismissed 
on January 10, 1864. Before coming to Groton he 
was settled at Geneva, N. Y., and on leaving this 
town he went to Plattsburg. At the present time he 
has charge of a Presbyterian Church at Rutherford, 
N. J. He has been blessed with eight children, of 
whom three survive, and five of the eight were born 
at Groton. In the year 1868 the degree of D.D. was 
conferred upon him by the University of Vermont. 

The fifth minister was the Reverend William 
Wheeler Parker, a son of Ebenezer and Hannah 
Brooks (Merriam) Parker, and born at Princeton on 
March 2, 1824. He graduated at the Andover Theo- 
logical Seminary in 1858, and on August 24th, of that 
year, he was married at Holden to Emily, daughter of 
Joel and Diodamia Walker. Mr. Parker was in- 
stalled at Groton on May 16, 1865, and dismissed at 
his own request on August 25, 1868. Since leaving 
this town he has lived in several places, but is now 
residing at Harwich Port. 

The sixth minister was the Reverend Jeremiah 
Knight Aldrich, a son of Nehemiah Knight and 
Sarah Bowen (Branch) Aldrich, and born in Provi- 
dence, R. I., on May 20, 1826. He became a licen- 
tiate after an examination before the Windham 
County (Connecticut) Association of Congregational 
Ministers, on June 4, 1862, and was ordained at Cen- 
tral Village, Plainfield, in that State, on February 17, 
1863. He was settled at Groton on June 1, 1870, and 
dismissed at his own request on May 18, 1873. Mr. 
Aldrich was married, on June 3, 1848, in Providence, 
R. I., to Sarah Hamer, of Taunton. 



GROTON. * 85 

The seventh minister was the Reverend Benjamin 
Adams Robie, a son of Thomas Sargent and Clarissa 
(Adams) Robie, and born at Gorham, Maine, on Sep- 
tember 9, 1836. He graduated at the Bangor Theo- 
logical Seminary in the class of 1865, and was mar- 
ried on July 6, 1869, at Vassalborough, to Lucy 
Hedge Wiggin, of that town. He was settled as 
pastor-elect on April 1, 1874, and resigned on April 
1, 1884. 

The eighth minister was the Reverend George 
Austin Pelton, a son of Asa Carter and Ophelia 
(Austin) Pelton, and born at Stockbridge, on April 
15, 1833. He graduated at Yale College in the class 
of 1861, and at Andover Theological Seminary in 
1864. He was licensed to preach by the Essex South 
Association in February, 1864, and ordained " to the 
work of the Gospel ministry " without installation, at 
Franklin, on August 9, 1865. Mr. Pelton was mar- 
ried in New Haven, Conn., on April 27, 1864, to 
Catharine Sarah, daughter of Seth Warner and Cath- 
erine Post Brownson. He was settled as pastor-elect 
on May 15, 1884, and resigned on May 15, 1886. 

The ninth minister was the Reverend John Bar- 
stow, a son of Ezekiel Hale and Eunice (Clark) Bar- 
stow, and born at Newton Centre on February 16, 
1857. He graduated at Dartmouth College in the 
class of 1883, and at the Andover Theological Sem- 
inary in 1887. He began his labors at Groton on 
April 1, 1887, and was ordained and installed on June 
29th, of the same year. Mr. Barstow was married at 
Wethersfield, on July 5, 1887, to Mary Weller Wol- 
Hfcott, of that town. He was dismissed at his own re- 



86 GROTON. 

quest on September 12, 1889, and is now settled over 
a society at Glastonbury, Conn. At one time his 
father was the principal of Lawrence Academy. 

The tenth minister is the Reverend Edward Leeds 
Gulick, the present pastor. He is a son of the Rev- 
erend Luther Halsey and Louisa (Lewis) Gulick, and 
born in Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, on March 21, 
1862. He graduated at Dartmouth College in the 
class of 1883, and at the Union Theological Seminary, 
New York, in 1887. He began his labors on October 
27, 1889, and was ordained on December 23d of the 
same year. 

A Baptist Society was organized on December 5, 
1832, and the Rev. Amasa Sanderson was the first 
minister. Captain Josiah Clark, one of the members, 
generously gave them the use of a commodious hall 
in the third story of a house at the south corner of 
Main Street and Broad Meadow Road. In the year 
1841 the society erected a meeting-house on the spot 
where the Rev. Mr. Hobart's dwelling stood, which 
was a garrison-house in the summer of 1694. 

Mr. Sanderson was a native of Gardner, Mass., 
where he was born on April 16, 1796. He was married, 
first, at Weston, in 1822, to Abigail Rand, who died 
on January 3, 1867 ; and, secondly, at Nashua, New 
Hampshire, in July, 1867, to Mrs. Mary Rebecca 
(Batch elder) Woodbury, widow of Seth Woodbury. 
Mr. Sanderson supplied the pulpit until May, 1843, 
when from feeble health he resigned his charge. He 
died in Nashua, New Hampshire, on June 1, 1877, 
and buried at Ayer. 

The Rev. Alfred Pinney, of Auburn, New YorkfP 



GROTON. 87 

was the second minister, and had charge of the society 
from August, 1843, to August, 1844. He is a son of 
Joshua Lasselle and Mary (Lake) Pinney, and 
born at Middlefield, Otsego County, New York, 
on October 15, 1812. In early life he studied the 
profession of medicine, which he practised for a 
while, but soon afterward gave up in order to enter 
the ministry. He began a course of study in the 
academic department of Madison University at Ham- 
ilton, Xew York, with a view to graduate from the 
college and the Theological Seminary, but owing to 
trouble with his eyes lie was compelled to abandon 
the plan. On June 8, 1841, Mr. Pinney was married 
in Troy, New York, to Olivia Marcia Brownell ; and 
he is now living at No. 95 Madison Street, Brooklyn. 

The Eev. Lewis Holmes, a native of Plymouth, was 
the third minister. Born on April 12, 1813, he grad- 
uated at Waterville College (now Colby University) 
in the class of 1840. He was settled at Groton in 
May, 1845, and remained until May, 1849. Mr. 
Holmes was settled over various societies in Massachu- 
setts, and died at Plymouth on May 24, 1887. 

The Rev. John Allen was the fourth minister, and 
his pastorate extended from June, 1849, to September, 
1853. He was born at Mansfield on March 27, 1792, 
and died at East Providence Centre, Rhode Island, on 
November 28, 1882. He was married, first, in the 
year 1816, at Easton, to Sally Bonney ; and secondly, 
on April 22, 1856, in Boston, to Mrs. Anna (Carpenter) 
Carpenter, daughter of Caleb Carpenter, and a native 
of Rehoboth. His father's name was Joseph Allen. 

The Rev. George Everett Tucker was the fifth min- 



88 GKOTON. 

ister, and his service began in November, 1853, and 
lasted until June, 1857. Born at Canton on February 
29, 1820, he fitted for college at Pierce Academy, of 
Middleborough and graduated at Brown University 
in the class of 1842: He has held pastorates at var- 
ious places in Ehode Island and Maine, and died at 
Dedham on October 24, 1888, while on a visit, though 
his home was at Brunswick, Maine. 

The Rev. Lucius Edwin Smith was the sixth min- 
ister, and served the society from December, 1857 to 
September, 1865. Mr. Smith is a native of Williams- 
town, where he was born on January 29. 1822, and a 
graduate of Williams College in the class of 1843. 
He first studied law in his native town and was ad- 
mitted to the bar in the year 1845 ; afterward studied 
divinity and graduated at the Newton Theological 
Seminary in 1857. His editorial services have been 
extensive, and he is now associate editor of the 
Watchman (Boston). The degree of D.D. was con- 
ferred upon him by his Alma Mater in 1869. 

The Rev. Oliver Ayer was the seventh minister, and 
had charge of the society from April, 1866, till March 
29, 1874. He is a son of Daniel and Nancy (Day) 
Ayers, and was born at Plaistow, New Hampshire, on 
August 2, 1810. He graduated at Brown University 
in the class of 1834, in the same class with the Rev. 
Crawford Nightingale, of Groton, and immediately 
after graduation became the principal of Rockingham 
Academy at Hampton Falls, New Hampshire. In 
the year 1837 he was ordained at Littleton, Massachu- 
setts, where he was the pastor of the Baptist Church 
until 1843, and then, after a settlement at Dover, 






GROTON. 89 

Claremont and Deerfield, all in the State of New 
Hampshire, he came to Groton in the spring of 1866. 

After leaving his town he was settled for six years 
over a society at North Oxford, since which time he 
has been living in Providence, with no pastoral charge. 
Mr. Ayer was married, first, on November 5, 1835, 
to Caroline Persis, daughter of William and Elizabeth 
(How) Garland, of Portsmouth, who died on Sep- 
tember 23, 1857 ; and, secondly, on September 16, 
1862, to Susan French Sargent, of Lebanon, New 
Hampshire. 

The Reverend Benjamin Franklin Lawrence was 
the eighth minister, and settled over the society from 
July, 1874, to August, 1880. He graduated at Colby 
University in the class of 1858, and studied at the 
Newton Theological Institution during the years 
1859 and 1860. He has had charge of various 
parishes in New England, and is now at East Jeffer- 
son, Maine. 

The Reverend Herman Franklin Titus served the 
church from December, 1880, to February, 1881, with- 
out settlement. He is a son of Moses and Sophronia 
(Patch) Titus, former residents of the town. 

The Reverend Thomas Herbert Goodwin was the 
ninth minister, and settled over the society from 
October, 1881, to January, 1884. He is a son of 
Benjamin and Lucy Adams (Mixer) Goodwin, and 
born in Manchester, New Hampshire, on July 4,1847. 
He was married, on March 23, 1871, at New London, 
New Hampshire, to Arviila Olive Pattee, and is now 
living at North Hanover. 

The Reverend Frank Curtis Whitney was the tenth 



90 GROTON. 

minister, and settled over the church from August 1, 
1884, to October 1, 1889. When he left the society he 
went to Minnesota. 

The Reverend Samuel Bastin Nobbs, the present 
pastor, is the eleventh minister, and took charge of 
the congregation on December 1, 1889. He is a son 
of James and Eliza (Haynes) Nobbs, and born at 
Charlton Kings/Gloucestershire, England, on July 1, 
1862. After a short residence in Australia he joined 
his parents in their removal from England to New 
York in September, 1881. Receiving his preparatory 
education at Gloucester. England, he entered the 
Theological Seminary at Hamilton, New York, in the 
year 1885, where he graduated in 1888. His first 
pastorate was at Newport, Vermont. Mr. Nobbs was 
married, on July 1, 1886, to Loue Maud Richardson, 
of Hamilton, New York. 

During the year 1885 a house of worship was built 
at West Groton, which was dedicated on October 7, 
according to the ritual of the Methodist Church. The 
Congregational, Baptist, and Episcopal Societies of the 
town were well represented on the occasion, and 
everybody seemed to feel that the new building was a 
benediction to the village. In the " Life of John 
Todd " (page 181), written by his son, there is an early 
allusion to a chapel built during the winter of 1827, 
as follows : " My friends are preparing me a pretty 
chapel over at this spot [West Groton], and as soon as 
it is finished I am to open a battery there." All 
recollection of this building among the inhabitants of 
the village has now passed away. 

During the first three years after the present church 



GROTON. 91 

was built, services therein were conducted under the 
auspices of the Methodist denomination, but since 
that period the society has made arrangements with 
the Congregational minister at Groton to supply the 
pulpit, and he preaches on each Sunday afternoon. 

Services of the Episcopal Church were begun in 
connection with the Groton School at its opening in 
October, 1884. The parish is called St. John's Chapel 
of Groton School, and the sittings in the church are 
free. The services are conducted by the head master, 
Reverend Endicott Peabody. The present chapel was 
built in the year 1887, and consecrated on January S, 
1888, by the Bishop of the Diocese. 

Lawrence Academy. — During the early part of 
the year 1792 a voluntary association was formed at 
Groton, by certain people of the town and neighbor- 
hood, in order to establish an academy where a 
higher education could be obtained than was given 
at the district schools of that period. A subscription 
paper was circulated for the purpose of procuring 
funds to erect a suitable building. A subscription of 
five pounds currency was the smallest sum received 
from any person, and was denominated a share; ten 
pounds was called two shares; and soon. On April 
27, 1792, the association organized by choosing trustees 
and the other customary officers; and from this as a 
beginning sprang the institution known formerly as 
Groton Academy, but now as Lawrence Academy. 
When it was first opened, in the spring of 1793, the 
exercises were held in the district school -house, on 
Farmers' Row. By a resolve of the Legislature, on 
Feb. 27, 1797, a grant of land was given to the academy, 



92 GROTON. 

which consisted of half a township situated in Wash- 
ington County, District of Maine. It comes now in 
Hodgdon, Aroostook County, and lies on the eastern 
frontier of the State, just south of Houlton. 

Among the early friends and benefactors of the 
institution may be mentioned, — Benjamin Bancroft, 
Timothy Bigelow, James Brazer, Aaron Brown, Fran- 
cis Champney, Daniel Chaplin, Samuel Dana, Na- 
than Davis, Zechariah Fitch, Samuel Hemenway, 
Samuel Lawrence, Joshua Longley, Joseph Moors, 
William and Oliver Prescott, Samuel Rockwood, 
William Swan and Samson Woods. 

During the summer of 1841 the Academy building 
was remodeled for the first time and somewhat en- 
larged by an addition to the rear, at a cost of $2000, 
generously given for the purpose by Amos Lawrence, 
Esq., of Boston. The grounds also were improved, 
and a fence, consisting of stone posts and chains, 
placed in front of the yard, as well as on the south 
side, separating it from the Brazer estate. • 

In the spring of 1844 William Lawrence, Esq., of 
Boston, an elder brother of Amos, gave the sum of 
$10,000 to be added to the permanent funds of the 
institution. In consequence of this liberal gift and 
other manifestations of their interest in the school, 
on the part of the two brothers, the trustees voted 
the annual meeting, on August 20, 1845, to petition 
the General Court to change the corporate name of 
the school to " The Lawrence Academy of Groton." 
At the next session of the Legislature the petition 
was duly presented and granted on February 28, 
1846. 



GROTON. 93 

The benefactions of the Lawrence brothers did not 
cease with the change of name in the school. During 
the month of July, 1846, Amos Lawrence, Esq., 
bought the Brazer estate (so called), adjoining the 
Academy lot on the south, and formerly belonging to 
James Brazer, Esq., for the sum of $4400, and soon 
afterward conveyed it by deed to the trustees of 
Lawrence Academy. He also requested that all the 
buildings and fences on the place should be put in 
complete repair at his expense, which was accord- 
iugly done at a cost of more than $1200. During the 
next month William Lawrence, Esq., wrote to the 
trustees, offering to give $5000 to be used for the 
enlargement of the Academy building, for the erec- 
tion of a substantial stone and iron fence in front of 
the grounds, including the Dana and Brazer estates, 
and for the purchase of another bell for the school. 
The Dana estate, adjoining the Academy lot on the 
north, had formerly belonged to the Hon. Samuel 
Dana, and was bought by the trustees in the sum- 
mer of 1836. With this sum, thus generously placed 
in their hands, the trustees, during the ensuing au- 
tumn, enlarged the Academy by an extension on its 
north side, and very soon afterward carried out his 
wishes in the other matters. At Mr. Lawrence's 
death, which occurred on October 14, 1848, he be- 
queathed the sum of $20,000 to the institution. 

Unfortunately, the main building of the Academy 
was burned to the ground on July 4, 1868, and a 
structure of brick and stone erected on the same site, 
which was dedicated June 29, 1871. 

A celebration in connection with the history of 



94 GROTON. 

Lawrence Academy took place on July 12, 1854, 
when an address was delivered by the Rev. James 
Means, a former principal of the institution. It was 
a distinguished gathering, and known at that time 
as the " Jubilee." A full account of the proceedings 
was afterward published, with a general catalogue of 
the school from its beginning. Another re-union was 
held on June 21, 1883, when a dinner was given in 
the Town Hall to the old pupils. The assemblage 
was not so large as the previous one, but quite as 
enthusiastic. The wish was generally expressed that 
the centennial anniversary of the school, which 
comes in the year 1893, should be duly celebrated. 
The proceedings on this occasion also were printed 
in a pamphlet form. 

During the early days of New England there was 
no distinct class of men following the profession of 
medicine, but the practice was taken up in connec- 
tion with some other calling. In every community 
either the minister or the schoolmaster or some 
skilled nurse was expected to act in cases of need, 
and, for the most part, such persons performed the 
duties now undertaken by the faculty. In the early 
part of 1672 the Rev. Samuel Willard wrote a long 
account of a case of witchcraft which befell Eliza- 
beth Knapp, of Groton, and he relates how the 
"Physitian'' came to see her on November 5, 1671, 
when he gave his judgment on the case, or, in other 
words, made the diagnosis. It would be an interest- 
ing fact to know who was the doctor then practicing 
in the neighborhood, but this is now beyond the reach 
of historical inquiry. 



GROTON. 9S 

The earliest physician in Groton, mentioned by 
name, of whom I have found any trace, is Dr. Henry 
Blasdell, who was impressed into the public service 
by Colonel Edmund Goffe. On May 28, 1725, he pe- 
titioned the General Court that an allowance be 
made him for his professional services and for medi- 
cines furnished during the campaign of the previous 
autumn, while he was surgeon to the western forces. 
The amount of his bill was £26 14-?. and the General 
Court allowed him £17 9s. 

Dr. Ezekiel Chase, of Groton, wa? married at New- 
bury, on May 20, 1729, to Priscilia Merrill, of that 
town. She was a daughter of Nathan and Hannah 
(Kent) Merrill, and born at Newbury, on October 16, 
1703. 

Dr. Benjamin Morse was a son of Dr. Benjamin 
and Abigail (Dudley) Morse, and born at Sutton on 
March 20, 1740. He was married; on November 27, 
1760, to Mary, daughter of Isaac and Sarah Barnard, 
also born at Sutton, on September 13, 1741 ; and 
while living in that town they had a family of six 
children. 

Dr. Morse came to Groton probably during the 
Revolutionary period, aad was a Representative to 
the General Court in the session of 1784, and several 
succeeding ones ; and he w r as also a delegate to the 
Convention for adopting the Constitution of the Uni- 
ted States, in the year 1788, where he opposed the 
adoption. He lived in the south part of the town, 
near the present village of Aver ; and the site of his 
house is laid down on the map of Groton, published 
in 1832. He died on May 31, 1833, aged ninety-three 



96 GROTON. 

years, and his widow, on December 16, 1835, aged 
ninety-four years. 

Dr. Ephraim Ware, a physician of Groton, was 
married at Cambridge, on October 13, 1785, to Mrs. 
Abigail Gamage. He was a native of Needham, and 
born on January 14, 1725. His first wife was Martha, 
daughter of Josiah and Elizabeth Parker, of Groton, 
where they were married on July 26, 1764. She was 
born on January 7, 1737, and died at Groton on 
April 4, 1776. After their marriage they went to 
Dedham to live, as the records of that town say : 
" The Selectmen on the 2d Day of Augt., 1765, gave 
Orders to Israel Everett, Constable, to warn Ephraim 
Ware, Martha Ware [and three others] to depart this 
Town in 14 Days, or give Security to indemnify the 
Town." Such orders were in accordance with an old 
practice, then common throughout the Province, which 
aimed to prevent the permanent settlement of families 
in towns where they might become a public burden. 
Their two eldest children, both boys, were born at Ded- 
ham ; and three other children — a daughter, Sarah, 
and two sons, who both died in infancy — were born 
at Groton. Sarah, born on September 18, 1769, was 
married to Richard Sawtell, of Groton, on March 10, 
1796, and died on March 23, 1851, having been the 
mother of nine children. 

Dr. Ephraim Woolson was practicing medicine 
at Groton in the year 1766. He was a son of Isaac 
and Sibyl Woolson, and born at Weston on April 11, 
1740. He graduated at Harvard College in the class 
of 1760, and was married to Mary Richardson on July 
29, 1765. Dr. AVoolson appears to have been living 



GROTON. 07 

at Weston just before his residence at Groton, and in 
the year 1767 he bought land at Princeton, where six 
of his children were born. He was a justice of the 
peace, and is said to have died in the year 1802. 

Dr. Jonathan Gove was a son of John and Tabitha 
(Livermore) Gove, and born in that part of Weston 
which is now Lincoln, on August 22, 1746. He grad- 
uated at Harvard College in the class of 1768, and 
studied medicine under the instruction of Dr. Oliver 
Prescott, of Groton. About the year 1770 he was mar- 
ried to Mary, daughter of Nathan and Mary (Patter- 
son) Hubbard, of this town, and here John and Lu- 
cinda, their two eldest children, were born and baptized. 
This son graduated at Dartmouth College in the class 
of 1793, studied law and died at Chillicothe, Ohio, in 
the year 1802. From Groton Dr. Gove removed to 
New Boston, New Hampshire, where three more 
children were born. His wife was born at Groton on 
January 9, 1748, and died at New Boston. He was 
married, secondly, on January 6, 1791, to Polly Dow, 
who became the mother of three children. Dr. Gove 
subsequently removed to Goffstown, New Hampsl^e, 
and died there on March 24, 1818. 

Dr. Samuel Farns worth was the youngest child of 
Isaac and Anna (Green) Farns worth, and born at 
Groton on September 29, 1767. He was married, on 
November 25, 1788, to Betsey, daughter of Captain 
Zachariah and Lydia (Tuck) Fitch, and they had a 
family of eight children, of whom two sons, Samuel 
and Benjamin Franklin, were graduates of Dartmouth 
College in the class of 1813. Dr. Farnsworth subse- 
quently removed to Bridgeton, Maine, where he had a 



98 GROTON. 

successful career as a physician. His eldest child, 
Betsey, was born at Groton on July 2, 1789, and the 
next one, Samuel, at Bridgton on October 9, 1791 ; 
and the removal from this town took place in the 
year 1790. He died on November 4, 1817. 

These several physicians practiced their profession 
in the neighborhood of Groton, though they had never 
taken medical degrees. Before the present century 
this was a common custom throughout the country ; 
and the instances were very exceptional where prac- 
titioners could rightfully append M.D. to their names. 
As a class they were men of shrewd sense and acute 
observers, and their practice was attended with suc- 
cess. Perhaps they made a better use of their oppor- 
tunities than we make to-day with our richly endowed 
medical schools and numerous hospitals. 

During the last century Dr. Oliver Prescott was 
an eminent physician of Groton, and he took high 
professional rank throughout the Province. He was 
the youngest of three distinguished brothers, of whom 
the eldest was Judge James Prescott, who filled many 
important positions in civil life as well as in military 
circles ; and the second was Colonel William Prescott, 
who commanded the American forces at the Battle of 
Bunker Hill. Both Dr. Oliver Prescott and his son, 
Dr. Oliver Prescott, Jr., occupied exceptional place 
among the physicians of Middlesex County. 

Dr. Oliver Prescott was a son of the Honorable 
Benjamin and Abigail (Oliver) Prescott, and born at 
Groton on April 27, 1731. He graduated at Harvard 
College with the highest honors in 1750, and then 
studied medicine under the tuition of Dr. Ebenezer 



GEOTON. 99 

Eobie, of Sudbury. On October 19, 1756, he was 
married to Lydia, daughter of David and Abigail 
(Jennison) Baldwin, of Sudbury, and they had eight 
children. His high standing in the profession gave 
him a place as a charter member of the Massachu- 
setts Medical Society in 1781, and at the commence- 
ment of 1791 Harvard College conferred upon him the 
honorary degree of M.D. He was also the president 
of the Middlesex Medical Society during the whole 
period of its existence. Apart from his professional 
laurels he likewise enjoyed many civil and military 
honors. 

Dr. Prescott was town clerk during thirteen years, 
and selectman during thirty-two years. Before the 
Revolution he held the offices of major, lieutenant- 
colonel, colonel and general, respectively, in the 
militia. Subsequently, in the year 177S, he was ap- 
pointed third major-general of the militia, and in 
1781 second major-general, but soon afterward, on ac- 
count of ill health, he resigned the position. He 
was a justice throughout the Commonwealth, a mem- 
ber of the Board of War, a member of the Council of 
Massachusetts, until he declined the office, and, in the 
year 1779, was appointed Judge of Probate, and con- 
tinued as such until his death. He took an active 
part in suppressing Shays's Rebellion, which had 
many supporters in this neighborhood. Dr. Prescott 
was one of the original trustees of Groton Academy, 
and the first president of the board ; and he was also 
a member of the American Academy of Arts and 
Sciences. He died on November 17, 1804, aged sev- 
enty-three years, and his wife on September 27, 1798, 
aged sixty-two years. 

L.ofC. 



100 GROTON. 

Dr. Oliver Prescott, Jr., was the eldest son of Dr. 
Oliver Prescott, and born at Groton on April 4, 1762. 
He pursued his preparatory studies under Master 
Moody at Dummer Academy, and graduated at Har- 
vard College in the class of 1783. He studied medi- 
cine under the direction of his father and Dr. James 
Lloyd, of Boston, and established himself in practice 
in his native town. With every social advantage in 
his favor he at once took high rank as a physician, 
and soon enjoyed a wide reputation. On Feb. 22, 
1791, he was married to Nancy, daughter of Captain 
Leonard and Ann (Hall) Whiting, of Hollis, N. H., 
and they had nine children. His wife died on Sept. 
13, 1821, aged fifty-eight years ; and he was married, 
secondly, on Nov. 6, 1823, to Mrs. Elizabeth (Atkins) 
Oliver, who was born on Dec. 30, 1762, and died on 
May 21, 1835. Dr. Prescott was the town clerk and 
chairman of the selectmen from the year 1804 to 1811, 
and represented the town in the General Court dur- 
ing the sessions of 1809 and 1810. He was a trustee 
of Groton Academy from the time of its incorpora- 
tion until 1811, when he removed to Newburyport, 



where he died on September 26, 1827. 

Dr. Joseph Mansfield was a son of Richard and 
Elizabeth ( Whittemore) Mansfield, and born in Lynn 
on December 17, 1770. He graduated at Harvard 
College in the class of 1801, and among his class- 
mates were Tyler Bigelow, Thomas Bond, James Ab- 
bot Cummings, Timothy Fuller, Luther Lawrence, 
Stephen Minot and William Bant Sullivan, either na- 
tives or at some time residents of Groton. Both while an 
undergraduate, and while studying his profession, he 



GROTON. 101 

kept the district school on Farmer's Row, and 
even after he had acquired his profession he 
taught the same school with the understanding that 
his hours of instruction should conform somewhat to 
the needs of his practice. While in college he took 
high rank as a scholar, and, at an exhibition near the 
end of hisjunior year, he delivered a poem which, at- 
tracted some attention in literary circles, and subse- 
quently was printed. He studied medicine with Dr. 
Oliver Prescott, Jr., and, on June 11, 1805, was mar- 
ried to Abi, daughter of Benjamin and Meriel (Nich- 
ols) Hartweli. About the year 1810 he built the 
large dwelling, with brick ends, near the Baptist 
meeting-house, where he resided until his death, 
which took place on April 23, 1830. 

His son, Dr. George Mansfield, born at Groton on 
October 8, 1807, studied medicine and graduated at 
the Harvard Medical School in the class of 1832. He 
was married, on November 15, 18^2, to Hannah Maria 
Curtis, of Boston, and died at Janesville, Wisconsin j 
on July 25, 1869. 

Dr. Amos Bancroft was a son of Edward and Rach- 
el (Howard — Barron) Bancroft, of Pepperell, where 
he was born on May 23, 1767. He graduated at 
Harvard College in the class of 1791, and from the 
same institution took the degree of Bachelor of Med- 
icine in the year 1794. He began the practice of his 
profession at Westford, but soon afterwards removed 
to Weston, where he remained until the year 1811. 
He was married— first, on August 29, 1796, to Abigail, 
daughter of Captain Leonard and Ann (Hall) Whit- 
ing, of Hollis, New Hampshire, who was born on 



] 02 GROTON. 

March 25, 1772, and died at Weston, on December 4, 
1799; secondly, on October 7, 1800, to Sarah, daugh- 
ter of Henry and Faith (Savage) Bass, of Boston, 
who was born on April 21, 1768, and died on April 
30, 1837 ; thirdly, on October 17, 1839, to Eliza Doane, 
of Boston, who died on November 11, 1840 ; and 
fourthly, on October 31, 1841, to Mary, daughter of 
Kichard and Martha (Hall) Kneeland, of Westford. 
who was born on February 25, 1789, and died on 
April 22, 1862. 

Dr. Bancroft had a large practice and, at various 
times, a considerable number of medical students under 
his tuition, including among them the brothers James 
Freeman Dana and Samuel Luther Dana, who were 
grandsons of the Eeverend Samuel Dana, a former 
minister of the town, and graduates of Harvard Col- 
lege in the class of 1813. He was frequently called 
in consultation by other physicians, and often at a 
long distance from home. In those days there were 
no railroads, and traveling was attended with many 
difficulties. During the winter, when the roads were 
blocked up with snow, he was obliged, sometimes, to 
travel on snow-shoes; and, as his patients lived many 
miles apart, he was often absent from home for sever- 
al successive days. To add to his discomfort on such 
occasions it was difficult to obtain proper food, though 
there were at that period but few dwellings where he 
could not obtain some New England rum or other 
spirit to help restore exhausted nature. In the year 
1811 bis Alma Mater conferred upon him the honor- 
ary degree of M.D. 

On July 12, 1848, while walking down State Street, 



GROTON. 103 

in Boston, he stepped from the sidewalk, in order to 
cross the way, when a wagon, coming along rapidly, 
knocked him down, and injured him so severely that 
he died in the course of a few hours. 

Dr. Mansfield and Dr. Bancroft were the last phy- 
sicians of the town, who, while visiting patients, used to 
ride on horseback with saddle-bags, although they 
also drove much in sulkies. In early days, owing to 
bad roads, physicians on their professional rounds 
were in the habit of riding, and it was near the be- 
ginning of the present century, in this neighborhood, 
that the sulky, or covered gig, came into fashion 
among them. At the present time the four-wheeled 
buggy solely is used by physicians. 

Dr. Joshua Green was a son of Joshua and Mary 
(Mosley) Green, and born at Wendell, on October 8, 
1797. He attended school at the academies in New 
Salem, Westfield and Milton, and graduated at Har- 
vard College in the class of 1818. He studied medi- 
cine in the office of Dr. John Collins Warren, of Bos- 
ton, and took the degree of M.D. at the Harvard 
Medical School in the year 1821. Soon after taking 
this degree he was appointed apothecary at the 
Massachusetts General Hospital, then just opened 
for the reception of patients, where he remained for 
one year. At that time the apothecary, in addition 
to his own duties, performed those of the house- 
physician and the house-surgeon. In March, 1823, 
Dr. Green began to practice his profession at Sunder- 
land, and on January 5, 1824, was married to Eliza, 
daughter of Major Samuel and Susanna (Parker) 
Lawrence, of Groton. His wife was born on March 



104 GROTON. 

13, 1796, and died on August 20, 1874. During a 
winter of his college course he taught a district school 
at Groton, now known as the Moors School, and 
boarded in the family of Major Lawrence, who lived 
on Farmers' Row. 

In the spring of 1825 Dr. Green removed to Gro- 
ton, where he continued the practice of medicine, but 
after about ten years, owing to ill health, he gradually 
gave up his profession. In the year 1832 a pulmon- 
ary hemorrhage compelled him to pass a winter in 
the island of Cuba, where to a fair degree he regained 
his Health. He joined the Massachusetts Medical 
Society in 1826, and for many years was one of its 
councillors. He represented the town in the Legis- 
lature during the years 1836 and 1837, and was one 
of the trustees of Lawrence Academy from 1831 to 
1867, and during most of this time either the secre- 
tary or the president of the board. On the seventy- 
fourth anniversary of his birth (October 8, 1871) he 
had a paralytic stroke, from the effects of which he 
never fully recovered. After the death of his wife he 
went to live with his only daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth 
Lawrence (Green — Kendall) Swan, at Morristown, 
New Jersey, where he died on June 5, 1875. 

Dr. Micah Eldredge was a son of Hezekiah and 
Abigail (Whiton) Eldredge, and born at Ashford, 
Connecticut, on May 24, 1776. He studied medicine 
with an elder brother, Dr. Hezekiah Eldredge, and 
in 1798 began the practice of his profession at 
Dunstable, where he resided for many years, living 
first on one side of the State line and then on the 
other. On October 1, 1797, Dr. Eldredge was married 






GROTON. 105 

to Sally, daughter of Tilly and Abigail (Hale) But- 
trick, of Princeton. In 1826 he removed to Groton, 
where he remained for two years, when he established 
himself at Dunstable, New Hampshire, (now Nashua). 
The honorary degree of M.D. was conferred upon him 
by Dartmouth College in 1841. He died at Milford, 
New Hampshire, on July 2, 1849, and was buried in 
the Hollis Street Cemetery at Nashua. 

Dr. Jacob Williams was a son of Jacob and Han- 
nah (Sheple) Williams, and born at Groton on July 
16, 1789. About the year 1816 he was practicing med- 
icine at the Gilmanton Iron Works, New Hampshire, 
and in June, 1822, he was married to Irene Locke, of 
Epsom. In the year 1828 he returned to his native 
town and established himself as a physician ; and 
while here his wife died on March 11, 1831. During 
the next year he was married, secondly, to Betsey 
Wakefield, of Kennebunk, Maine. He remained at 
Groton until the year 1835, when he removed to Ken- 
sington, New Hampshire, where he died on July 7, 
1857. 

Dr. James Wilson was a son of the Honorable Abiel 
and Abigail (Putnam) Wilson, and born at Wilton, 
N. H., December 4, 1796, on the farm where his great- 
grandfather, Jacob Putnam, began a settlement in the 
year 1739. He studied medicine under the tuition of 
Dr. John Wallace, of Milford, New Hampshire, and 
graduated at the Dartmouth Medical School in the 
class of 1821. He was practicing his profession at 
Boston in the early part of 1825, as his name appears 
in the directory of that year, and he removed to Gro- 
ton near the beginning of 1828. He was married, in 



106 GROTON. 

February of that year, to Elizabeth P. Wilson, of Bos- 
ton, a daughter of the city crier; and he came here 
under the patronage of Dr. Amos Bancroft, who de- 
sired some respite from a large practice, and acted 
as his sponsor in the community. After living at 
Groton during two years he returned to Boston and 
passed a brief period, and then removed to New 
York, where he remained for a short time. Soon af- 
terward he went to Cuba, where he spent the remain- 
der of his days, and died in Matanzas on November 
23, 1868. 

Dr. George Stearns was the youngest child of Eph- 
raim and Molly (Gilman) Stearns, and born at Wal- 
pole, New Hampshire, on May 10, 1802. He gradu- 
ated at the Harvard Medical School in the class of 
1827, and began the practice of his profession in Bos- 
ton, where he remained about three years, when he 
settled at Groton. He was married, on July 2, 1868, 
to Mrs. Ann (Moulton) Gilson, widow of Joshua Gil- 
son, of Groton. Dr. Stearns was the last survivor of 
thirteen children, and died on March 7, 1882, at which 
time he was the oldest physician in the town. 

Dr. Amos Farnsworth was a son of Major Amos and 
Elizabeth (Rockwood) Farnsworth, and born at Gro- 
ton on August 30, 1788. He studied his profession 
with Dr. Calvin Thomas, of Tyngsborough, and with 
Dr. John Collins Warren, of Boston, but before his 
graduation he was commissioned as surgeon's mate in 
the Fourth Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, on 
April 14, 1812, just before war was declared by the 
United States with Great Britain ; and two months 
later, on June 15th, his regiment left South Boston for 



GROTON. 107 

Burlington, Vermont, for service on the frontier. He 
remained with the Fourth Infantry during thirteen 
months, when he resigned his commission on May 14, 
1813. During the following summer he graduated at 
the Harvard Medical School, and began the practice 
of his profession in Boston, where he remained until 
the year 1832, when he removed to his native town. 
On March 21, 1823, Dr. Farnsworth was married to 
Mrs. Mary (Bourne) Webber, widow of Captain. Seth 
Webber, of Boston. He died in Roxbury on July 31, 
1861, and his wife in Boston, on October 27, 1828, 
aged thirty-seven years. 

Dr. Amos Bigelow Bancroft w r as a son of Dr. Amos 
and Sarah (Bass) Bancroft, and born at Groton on 
April 3, 1811. He graduated at Harvard College in 
the class of 1831, and at the Harvard Medical School 
in 1834. He began the practice of his profession at 
Groton in connection with his father ; and on June 
11, 1840, was married to Marietta, daughter of Nathan 
and India (Emerson) Shepley, of Pepperell. Dr. Ban- 
croft remained in town until the spring of 1853, when 
he removed to Charlestown, where for more than ten 
years he was physician to the State Prison. Under 
the administration of Gen. Grant he was appointed 
superintendent and surgeon in charge of the Marine 
Hospital at Chelsea, which position he held from Au- 
gust 1, 1869, to June 30, 1877, when he took up his 
residence in Boston. While traveling abroad with 
his family he died in Florence, Italy, on November 
8, 1879, much lamented by a wide circle of friends 
and patients at home, — leaving a widow and two 
daughters to mourn his loss. 



1 08 GROTON. 

Dr. Abel Hervey Wilder was a native of Winchen- 
don. where he was born on June 16, 1801. He was a 
son of Levi and Grace (Wilder) Divoll ; but by an 
Act of the Legislature on February 7, 1812, his name 
was changed from Hervey Divoll to Abel Hervey 
Wilder, keeping the surname of his mother. He 
graduated at the Dartmouth Medical School in the 
class of 1828, and began to practice his profession at 
Temple, New Hampshire. On February 29, 1828, he 
was married at New Ipswich, New Hampshire, to 
Mary, daughter of Ephraim and Elizabeth (Bent) 
Brown, a native of Lincoln. 

Dr. Wilder subsequently removed to Pepperell, and 
in the year 1836 came to Groton, where he had the 
management of an institution for the treatment of 
nervous diseases. He continued to live here until 
the death of his wife, which took place on February 
12, 1843, when he removed to Pittsfield. After leav- 
ing Groton he was married for the second time ; and 
after a residence in different parts of the country, he 
died at Bloomrield, New Jersey, on January 2, 1864. 

Dr. James Merrill Cummings was a son of Jacob 
Abbot and Elizabeth (Merrill) Cummings, and born 
in Boston on July 27, 1810. He graduated at Bow- 
doin College in the class of 1830, and at the Bowdoin 
Medical School in 1834. On November 4, 1835, he 
was married to Sarah Thurston Phillips, daughter of 
Joel and Sarah Phillips (Thurston) Hall, of Portland, 
Maine. In the spring of 1842 Dr. Cummings came 
to Groton and bought out the establishment of Dr. 
Wilder, which he conducted for four years; and in 
the spring of 1846 he removed to Salem, where he re- 



GROTOX. 109 

mained for four years, when he settled in Portland, 
where he died on July 20, 1883. His widow died on 
January 29, 1890, at the advanced age of eighty-five 
years. 

Dr. Rufus Shackford, a son of Captain Samuel and 
Hannah (Currier) Shackford, was born at Chester, 
New Hampshire, on December 17, 1816 ; studied 
medicine under the tuition of Dr. Cummings, and 
graduated at the Harvard Medical School in the class 
of 1845. He practiced for a brief period at Groton in 
the office of his preceptor, after which he lived in 
Lowell for a short time, when he removed to Port- 
land, Maine, where he is now in practice. 

Dr. Norman Smith was a son of Jesse and Nabby 
(Kittredge) Smith, and born at Mount Vernon, New 
Hampshire, on October 13, 1811. He graduated at 
the Vermont Medical College, Woodstock, in the 
class of 1843, and began to practice medicine at Gro- 
ton, where he passed his whole professional life, with 
the exception of four years spent in Nashua, New 
Hampshire. In April, 1861, at the outbreak of the 
Rebellion, he went out as surgeon of the Sixth Massa- 
chusetts Militia Regiment, and was with that famous 
organization on its march through Baltimore and 
during its first campaign of three months. He was a 
member of the Union Congregational Church, and 
prominent in all matters connected with the welfare 
of the town. His death took place at his farm on 
Common Street, on May 24, 1888, and the funeral, on 
May 28th, was conducted under Masonic rites. 

Dr. Smith was married, first, on May 3, 1838, to 
Harriet, daughter of John and Lydia Sleeper, of 



110 GROTON. 

Francestown, New Hampshire, who died on Septem- 
ber 2, 1839 ; secondly, on November 6, 1843, to Mari- 
ett Sleeper, a sister of his first wife, who died on July 
6, 1846; thirdly, on September 22, 1847, to Abigail 
Maria, daughter of Ephraim and Sarah (King) 
Brown, of Wilton, New Hampshire, who died on 
July 17, 1852; fourthly, on September 12, 1853, to 
Sarah Young, daughter of Solomon and Dorcas (Hop- 
kins) Frost, who died on December 4, 1856, and, 
fifthly and lastly, on September 11, 1866, to Mrs. 
Mary Jane (King) Lee, daughter of Daniel and Re- 
becca (Parmenter) King, of Rutland, Massachusetts. 

Dr. Lemuel Fuller was a son of Dr. Lemuel and 
Mary (Shepherd) Fuller, and born at Marlborough, 
on April 2, 1811. He graduated at the Vermont 
Medical College, Woodstock, in the class of 1844, 
and came to Groton from Harvard in the year 1847. 
On June 6, 1844, he was married to Catherine Palli- 
seur, daughter of Francis and Maria Foster (Palliseur) 
Barrett, of Concord. Dr. Fuller left Groton in 1850, 
and died at Harvard during a temporary visit from 
home February 11, 1864. During the last ten years 
of his life he lived at North Weymouth. 

Dr. Miles Spaulding was a son of Captain Isaac 
and Lucy (Emery) Spaulding, and born at Townsend, 
on April 4, 1819. He graduated at the Berkshire 
Medical Institution, Pittsfield, in the class of 1842, 
and he soon afterward established himself at Dunsta- 
ble, where he remained until the year 1851, when he 
removed to Groton. Dr. Spaulding was married, 
first, on January 12, 1848, to Sophia Louisa, daughter 
of Aaron and Lucinda (Munson) Miller, of New 






GROTON. Ill 

Haven, Connecticut, who died on September 4, 1852 ; 
and, secondly, on August 27, 1863, to Mary Mehetable, 
only child of Stephen and Mary (Kilborn — French) 
Stickney. He still lives at Groton, the senior physi- 
cian of the town. 

Dr. Peter Pineo is a son of Peter and Sarah (Stead- 
man) Pineo, and was born at Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, 
on March 6, 1825. He graduated at the Bowdoin 
Medical School in the class of 1847, and was married 
in Boston, on May 8, 1850, to Elizabeth, daughter of 
Kendall and Betsey (Hill) Crosby. In the spring of 
1853 he came to Groton, where he remained for two 
years, after which time he removed to Quechee, a 
village in the town of Hartford, Vermont. On June 
11, 1861, he was commissioned as surgeon of the 
Ninth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, and soon 
afterward was promoted to a brigade surgeoncy, 
which office was abolished on July 2, 1862, by an 
Act of Congress, when officers of that rank became 
surgeons of United States Volunteers. On February 
9, 1863, he was made medical inspector United 
States Army, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, 
and he served with distinction until the end of the 
war. At the present time he is a resident of Boston. 

Dr. Kendall Davis was a son of Joseph and Han- 
nah Davis, and born at New Ipswich, New Hamp- 
shire, on December 4, 1802. According to the State 
Register of the years 1847-50, he was then living at 
Groton, where he practiced for a short time. From 
this town he went to Athol, and died at Templeton 
on September 20, 1875. 

Dr. Richard Upton Piper is a son of Samuel and 



112 GROTON. 

Mary (Folsom) Piper, and was born at Stratham, 
New Hampshire. He graduated at the Dartmouth 
Medical School in the class of 1840, and began the 
practice of his profession at Portland, Maine, where 
he was married, on November 8, 1841, to Elizabeth 
Frances Folsom, a native of Portsmouth, New Hamp- 
shire. In the year 1864 he came to Groton and re- 
mained five years, though without engaging in the 
active practice of medicine. He afterward lived in 
Chicago, but is now a resident of Washington. He 
is an author of some note, having written a work en- 
titled " Operative Surgery Illustrated," and another 
on " The Trees of America." 

Dr. Joseph Franklin Coolidge was a son of Charles 
and Nancy (Spaulding) Coolidge, and born at West- 
minster on Sept. 11, 1837. He graduated at the Har- 
vard Medical School in the class of 1862, and in the 
year 1864 came to Groton, where he remained until 
his death, which took place on June 1, 1865. Dr. 
Coolidge was one of a family of ten children, and was 
never married. 

Dr. William Ambrose Webster was the only son of 
William Gordon and Susan (Ambrose) Webster, and 
born at Rochester, New Hampshire, June 13, 1830. He 
graduated at the Medical School of the Long Island 
College Hospital, Brooklyn, N. Y., in the spring of 
1862. Soon after graduation, on July 1, 1862, he was 
commissioned as surgeon of the Ninth New Hamp- 
shire Volunteers, w T hich left for the seat of war on 
August 25, 1862, and he continued in that capacity 
until January 5, 1865, w r hen he was honorably dis- 
charged. In September of that year he came to Gro- 






GROTOX. 113 

too, where he remained during three years, when he 
removed to Westford. He died in Manchester, N. 
H., on February 8, 1887. Dr. Webster was twice 
married,— first, in August, 1851, to Mary Anne Kaime, 
of Pittsfield, N. H., and secondly, on August 9, 1858, 
to Marion M. Ladd, of Middlesex, Vt. By the first 
marriage two daughters were born, who both are now 
living, and by the second marriage one daughter, 
Susan Marion Webster, was born at Groton on June 
25, 1866, but she died before her father. 

Dr. David Roscoe Steere is a son of Scott and Mary 
(Mathewson) Steere, and was born at Lisbon, Connec- 
ticut, April 27, 1847. He graduated at the Dartmouth 
Medical School in the class of 1871, and, after gradu- 
ation, practiced for a few months at Savoy. In July, 
1872, he came to Groton, where he has since re- 
mained ; and in the year 1878 he built the house, at 
the corner of Main and Church Streets, which he 
now occupies. On June 18, 1873, Dr. Steere was mar- 
ried to Adelia, daughter of Jephtha and Betsey (Boyn- 
ton) Hartwell. 

Dr. Edward Hubbard Winslow was a son of the 
Reverend Hubbard and Susan Ward (Cutler) Wins- 
low, and born in Boston on Dec. 26, 1835. He was 
married, on Sept. 1, 1859, to Helen H.Ayer, of Mont- 
vale, Me., and in the early spring of 1875 came to 
Groton, where he remained about two years. Dr. 
Winslow died in New York on Oct. 16, 1873. 

Dr. George Washington Stearns is a son of Paul and 

Lucy (Kneeland) Stearns, and was born at Reading, 

Vermont, on Dec. 25, 1814. His mother was a sister 

of Abner Kneeland, the preacher and author. He 

8 



114 GROTON. 

took his medical degree first in March, 1857, at Penn 
Medical University, Philadelphia, and secondly, in 
1858, at the Hahnemann Medical College, in the same 
city. In the spring of 1878 Dr. Stearns came to Gro- 
ton from Marblehead, and in November, 1882, re- 
moved to Holliston, where he remained a few years, 
when he went to Holyoke, of which city he is now a 
resident. He was married, first, on May 8, 1838, at 
South Yarmouth, to Sylvia Crowell, and secondly, on 
July 19, 1877, at New Bedford, to Julia Amanda, 
daughter of Cyrus and Eliza Eastman (Cottrell) 
Ware. 

Dr. William Barnard Warren is a son of Noailles 
Lafayette and Mary (Barnard) Warren, and was born 
at Leominster on Nov. 16, 1853. He graduated at 
the Medical Department of the University of the 
City of New York in the class of 1881, having pre- 
viously attended a course of lectures in 1879 at the 
Dartmouth Medical School. In December, 1882, he 
came to Groton and established himself in practice, 
where he now remains. Dr. Warren was married at 
Groton on Oct. 31, 1883, to Ardelia Temple, daughter 
of Thomas Haines and Belief (Cummings) Smith, of 
Boston. 

Dr. Marion Zachariah Putnam is a son of John and 
Sophia (Weaver) Putnam, and was born at Mount 
Sterling, Illinois, on August 14, 1844. In the year 
1870 he graduated at the Medical Department of 
the Northwestern University, Chicago, and began to 
practice in his native town. On September 9, 1880, 
Dr. Putnam was married to Harriet Elizabeth, daugh- 
ter of Thomas Spencer and Harriet Heyward (Law- 



GROTON. 1 1 5 

ton) Farnsworth, of Groton. About the year 1883 he 
came to this town from Lowell, where he had resided 
for a short period. He lives on Pleasant Street, but 
has retired from the active practice of his profession. 

The Fitchburg Railroad was first opened to public 
travel, through the southerly part of Groton, on De- 
cember 30, 1844; and the Peterborough and Shirley 
Railroad, under the management of the Fitchburg 
company, was opened during the year 1847. The 
Worcester and Nashua Railroad was operated for reg- 
ular business, through its entire length, on December 
18, 1848, though the section from Groton Junction to 
Clinton had been previously opened on July 3, 1848, 
and from Clinton to Worcester on November 22d; and 
the Stony Brook began its operations on July 1, 1848. 
Soon after these interconnections were made, a village 
sprang up in the neighborhood, which became popu- 
larly known as the " Junction," though by the Post- 
Office Department at Washington it was officially called 
" South Groton." On March 1, 1861, the name of the 
post-office was changed by the Department from 
South Groton to Groton Junction. This settlement, 
growing in numbers, after a while was set off from the 
parent town, and, by an act of the Legislature on 
February 14, 1871, incorporated as a distinct town- 
ship, under the name of Ayer. After this date, there- 
fore, the list of physicians, so far as they relate to the 
Junction, and their biographical sketches, will cease. 

Dr. Ebenezer Willis was a son of Johu and Nancy 
(Spriggens) Willis, and born at Newmarket, New 
Hampshire, on January 26, 1815. He was married at 
Exeter, on July 23, 1836, to Mary Frances, daughter 



116 GROTON. 

of Benjamin and Mary Seavey (Neal) Batchelder. 
Dr. Willis came to Groton Junction in March, 1849, 
and was the pioneer physician of the place. He died 
at Ayer on May 10, 1890. 

Dr. John Quincy Adams McCollester is a son of 
Silas and Achsah (Holman) McCollester, and was 
born at Marlborough, New Hampshire, on May 3, 
1831. He took his degree of M.D. from the Jefferson 
Medical School in March, 1856. Dr. McCollester was 
married, first, on May 6, 1856, to Sarah Elizabeth, 
daughter of Joseph and Anna (Longley) Hazen, of 
Shirley, who died on May 5, 1858 ; and, secondly, on 
August 9, 1859, to Georgianna Lydia, daughter of 
Daniel and Lydia (Fisk) Hunt, of Groton. During 
the War of the Rebellion he was the surgeon of the 
Fifty-third Regiment Massachusetts Militia, having 
been commissioned on December 1, 1862, and mus- 
tered out of the service on September 2 f 1863. He is 
now a resident of Waltham. 

Dr. Edson Champion Chamberlin, a native of Thet- 
ford, Vermont, came to Groton Junction in the sum- 
mer of 1859 and remained one year. He graduated 
at the Worcester Medical Institution on June 20, 
1854. He was married to Mary A. Pierce, of South- 
bury, Connecticut, where he died on January 26, 1877, 
aged fifty-six years. 

Dr. Gibson Smith came to Groton Junction from 
the State of Maine about the year 1866. He was an 
" eclectic " physician and a spiritualist, and died at 
Ayer on September 26, 1885, aged seventy years. 

Dr. John Eleazer Parsons is a son of John and 
Rosalinda Davis (Robbins) Parsons, and was born at 



GROT( >X. 117 

Harrison, Maine, on November 20, 1835. He gradu- 
ated at the Harvard Medical School in the class of 
1863, and on March 18th of the same year was com- 
missioned as assistant surgeon of the Twenty-eighth 
Eegiment Massachusetts Volunteers, but for disability 
was discharged on July 30, 1863. Dr. Parsons next 
served as acting assistant surgeon, United States 
Navy from October 10, 1863, to December 10, 1866, 
when he resigned. During the last week of Decem- 
ber, 1866, he came to the village of Groton Junction 
(Ayer), where he is still living. 

Dr. Benjamin Hall Hartwell is a son of Benjamin 
Franklin and Emma (Whitman) Hartwell, and was 
born at Acton February 27, 1845. He received his 
early education at Lawrence Academy, Groton, of 
which institution he is now one of the trustees, and 
graduated at the Jefferson Medical College, Philadel- 
phia, on March 7, 1868. In the early spring of 1869 
Dr. Hartwell came to Groton Junction (Ayer), where 
he still resides, having filled many prominent posi- 
tions of trust and usefulness. He was married, on 
September 10, 1879, to Helen Emily, daughter of 
Major Eusebius Silsby and Mary Jane (Shattuck) 
Clark. 

Dr. James Moody Moore was a son of Dr. Ebenezer 
Giles and Eliza Sarah (Hidden) Moore, and born at 
Wells, Maine, on June 20, 1832. He graduated at 
the Dartmouth Medical School in the class of 1860, 
and in May of that year came to Groton Junction, 
where he remained until April, 1861. Dr. Moore 
then removed to Concord, New Hampshire, his father's 
home, where he died on February 3, 1870. 



118 GROTON. 

A List of Bepresentatives to the General 
Court, from the colonial period to the present time, 
with the dates of their election and terms of service ; 
including also the names of certain other officers — 
1672-1887. 

The Assistants of Massachusetts, sometimes called 
Magistrates, were the forerunners of the Provincial 
Council and the State Senate. They were few in 
number, and, in point of dignity and honor, next to 
the Governor and the Deputy-Governor. Major Simon 
Willard, the only citizen of the town who ever held 
the office, became a resident in the year 1672, remov- 
ing here from Lancaster at that time. He was first 
chosen to the position in 1654, when living at Con- 
cord. 

COUET OF ASSISTANTS. 
Date of first Election. Term of Service. 

May 3, 1654 Major Simon Willard 1672-1676 

(Died in office on April 24, 1676 ) 

SENATE. 

October 26, 1780 . . Honorable James Prescott . . . .1780-1784,1780 

June 1, 1797 .... Honorable Timothy Bigelow 1797-1800 

May 6, 1805 Honorable Samuel Dana 1805-1812,1817 

(Mr. Dana was president of the body during the years 1807, 1S11 and 1812.) 

November 13, 1837 . Honorable Stuart James Park 1838, 1839 

January 9, 1851 . . . Honorable John Boynton 1851 

November 13, 1854 . Honorable Abijah Edwin Hildreth 1855 

November 5, 1867 . . Honorable Daniel Needham 1868, 1869 

November 8, 1887 . . Honorable Moses Poor Palmer .... 1888-1890 
(Of these Senators the last two are the sole survivors.) 

There is no reference in the Groton records to the 
election of any representatives to the General Court 
before the year 1693 ; and even then the names are 
not given, and only by the receipts for their pay, and 
by some allusions to the subject, is it known that any 



GROTON. 119 

were chosen previously to that date. According to 
the Colonial records, Captain James Parker served 
as a deputy, or representative, during the session be- 
ginning November 7, 1683, and it is probable that he 
was the only one from the town under the first char- 
ter. 

The following entries comprise every allusion to 
the subject found in the earliest volume of town 
records, which is known as the " Indian Roll" : 

" Fabruary the 6 1693 the inhabitanc being met togather for to Con- 
sider of sum waye for to preuent futar unnessesary charges did by 
uott declare that they would petishone unto the geuaraill Court that 
ther representetiue might be relesed from atending the Seshone any- 
more 

" the same daye the town did by uott declare that they would haue 
dacon Lawranc for to manidge the portistione for them which the 
Comithy hath draw up" (Page 107.) 

" Groton Aprill 12 1693 Know all peple by thes presenc that Na- 
thanaeill Lawranc senor hath Reseiued full satisfactione by the select 
men and Constables for sarueing the town as a Representee at the two 
first sestione 

" I saye reseiued by me Nathannil laurance " 

" Groton April 12 1693 Know all peple by thes presenc that John Page 
senor doth fully and [sic] Clearely acquite the town select men and 
constables for sarfing the town as a representetiue at the first [session] 
held at boston in ye year 1692 

" as witness my hand Joh Page seneyer " 

" Payed to Nathanail Lawranc se[nior] aight pounds in mony 

" Payed to John Page se[nior] two pounds sixteen shillins and nine 
penc in mony " (Page 109.) 

"maye 15 1693 the Town being met together ther unto orderlie 
warned then the town did by uote declare that they would not send nor 
Choose any parson nor parsons for to Represent them at the great and 
genaraill Corte or asembley 

"John page senor Jeams Kemp John Stone and William Longley 
se[uior] desent from this uote John farnworth and Steuen holden 

" The Town Resons is they do not iudg themself layable nether 
acordind to Law nor Charter 

" as atest William Loxgley T&wn C/arcft" 

(Page 109.) 



120 GROTON 

•'October 30 1693 at town meeting Legally -warned Capt Jeams 
Parker was chonsen to Kepresent the town at ye great and genaraee 11 
assembly held at boston the eaight day of nouember insuing the date 
here of" (Page 110.) 

It does not appear from the records of the General 
Court that Captain Parker was present at any meet- 
ing of this session. 

" Jenuary 1 169^ the town this daye did ingage to sequer the seleck 
men from any harm or dameidg that they shall meett with all in Ee- 
spect of Decon nathanaell Lawranc in that he doth demand thirty 6 
6hillins in money for to be his dew for sarfing the said town as a repre- 
sentiue and the town doo Refuse to paye the said money the seleck men 
being estemed as the rest of the inhabitanc in the mater also the town 
did by the maier uote chouse Liftenant Jonah Prescot & Jeams parker 
Ju for to answer in the case if the said Lawranc should truble y e seleck 
men or town and they did exsept of the choiss and they are to haue 
their paye for their pains when the said town is able to paye them 

" as wittness William Longley town dark " 

"John page sefuior] desents from the aboue mentioned propersis- 
tione" (Pages 111, 112.) 

"at a town meting legelly warned May 9 th 1699 : Capt: Prescot was 
chosen for to atende the genrell Cort : for to sarue as a represintiue 

" James Blaxchard Clark" 

(Page 118.) 

" May 17 1703 at a town metting legelly warned the town did by uot 
declare that thay would pay deacon larrance the mony that the deacon 
demande for saruing the : town as ane represintiue In the year 1693 

" the town did uote and declare that thay would borrow the mony 
of thomas Williams for four month and pay for the use of it one 
shilling 

" James Blanchard Clark'" 

(Page 124.) 

"Groton Mayy* 8 1705 then capt prascot was chosen to sarue as a 
representetife for the yer Insuing 

" Thomas Tarbell Clarck " 
(Page 126.) 

" Groton May the aight 1706 At a town meting legally worned to 
chuse a repreasantiue the fre hooldars and other inhabitants qualafied 
acording to law did by the maior uote couse [choose] Simin Stone for 
this year 1706 a represantetiue 

"Joseph Lakin town dark " 

(Page 129.) 



GROTON. 121 

The paging, as given after these several extracts, 
refers to the printed edition of " The . Early Records 
of Groton, Massachusetts, 1662-1707," from which 
they are taken. Since the year 1707, and even before 
that date, in the town records, there are occasional 
omissions of the names of representatives, and these 
gaps I have filled from the Colonial and Provincial 
records at the State-House. In such cases the names 
are printed within brackets, and the dates given with 
them refer to the beginning of each session ; and in 
all other instances in the list, where dates of the ses- 
sions have been obtained or inferences drawn from 
these records, brackets are used. 

In early times the representative to the General 
Court was paid by the town that sent him ; and this 
fact furnishes the reason why the town of Groton, on 
May 15, 1693, voted not to send one. It was then 
poor, and staggering under a heavy load in the shape 
of debts and current expenses. Notwithstanding the 
receipt of Deacon Lawrence given on April 12, 1693, 
the town was threatened by him with a suit for thir- 
ty-six shillings, for his services as a representative, 
perhaps during a short period after the petition of 
February 6, 1693, when it was voted that he should 
be released from attendance. It is not now known 
whether a suit was ever begun, but, ten years later, 
as appears by the vote of May 17, 1703, the town 
agreed to settle the matter by paying the demand, 
though it was obliged to borrow the money for that 
purpose, — an indication of its extreme poverty. Dur- 
ing some of these ten years Deacon Lawrence was a 
resident of that quarter of Cambridge which is now 



122 GROTON. 

Lexington ; and his absence from Groton may have 
been, in part, the cause of the long delay in settling 
the dispute. Neither Deacon Lawrence nor Mr. Page 
was chosen to the Assembly that convened on May 
31, 1693. 

John Paris was a member of the Council for Safety 
of the People, which met on May 9, 1689, just after 
Governor Andros was deposed. It is probable that 
the town was unrepresented during the following 
years: 1693 (first session), 1694-1698, 1700-1704, and 
1707, as the Provincial records of those dates do not 
mention any member from Groton. 

In the following list of representatives I have given 
the church, civil and military titles found in the rec- 
ords, inasmuch as they indicate, approximately, the 
period when they were acquired. For nearly a cen- 
tury and a half the term of service of each member 
was during the year of his election. The name of 
John Sheple, as spelled in the town records, is writ- 
ten John Shepley in the Provincial records, but the 
two names refer to the same man, and the Nathaniel 
Sawtell of the town records is identical with the Na- 
thaniel Sartle of the Provincial records. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

Date of Election. 
[November 7, 1683, Captain James Parker.] 
[May 9, 1689, John Paris.] 

Under tlie Charter of William and Mary. 
[June 8, 1692, Nathaniel Lawrence.] 
[June 8, 1692, John Page.] 

[May 31, 1693 (first session), probably none chosen.] 
October 30, 1693 (second session), Captain James Parker. 
[May 30, 1694, probably none chosen.] 



G BOTOX. 123 



[May 29, 1695, probably none chosen.] 

[May 27, 1696, probably none chosen.] 

[May 26, 1697, probably none chosen.J 

[May 25, 1698, probably none chosen.] 

May 9, 1699, Jonas Prescott. 

[May 29, 1700, probably none chosen.] 

[May 28, 1701, probably none chosen ] 

[May 27, 1702, probably none chosen.] 

[May 26, 1703, probably none chosen.] 

[May 31, 1704, probably none chosen.] 

May 8, 1705, Jonas Prescott. 

May 8, 1706, Simon Stone. 

[May 28, 1707, probably none chosen.J 

[May 26, 1708, John Farnsworth.] 

May 25, 1709, Ensign John Farnsworth. 

May 22, 1710, Ensign John Farnsworth. 

[May 30, 1711, John Farnsworth.] 

May 7, 1712, Ensign John Farnsworth. 

May 11, 1713, Ensign John Farnsworth. 

[May 26, 1714, John Farnsworth.] 

[May 25, 1715, Thomas Tarbell.] 

[May 30, 1716, John Shepley.] 

May 21, 1717, John Sheple. 

[May 28, 1718, John Shepley.] 

[May 27, 1719, John Shepley.] 

May 6, 1720, Captain Jonas Prescott, Jr. 

May 22, 1721, Captain John Sheple. 

August 8, 1721, Captain John Sheple. 

[May 30, 1722, Captain John Sheple.] 

May 1, 1723, Lieutenant Benjamin Prescott. 

May 18, 1724, Lieutenant Benjamin Prescott. 

May 14, 1725, Captain John Sheple. 

May 19, 1726, Captain John Sheple. 

May 17, 1727, Benjamin Prescott. 

May 10, 1728, Captain John Sheple. 

May 14, 1729, John Longley. 

May 18, 1730, Deacon John Longley. 

May 17, 1731, Deacon John Longley. 

[May 31, 1732, Nathaniel Sartle.] 

May 21, 1733, Nathaniel Sawtell, Esq. 

May 8, 1734, Benjamin Prescott, Esq. 

May 19, 1735, Benjamin Prescott, Esq. 



124 GEOTOX. 

May 18, 1736, Benjamin Prescott, Esq. 

May 17, 1737, Colonel Benjamin Prescott. 
May 15, 1738, Benjamin Prescott, Esq. (died in office on August 3, 1738). 
December 25, 1738, Justice Nathaniel Sawtell,in the place of Benjamin 
Prescott, Esq., deceased. 

May 23, 1739, Justice Nathaniel Sawtell. 

[May 28, 1740, John Longley.] 

May 25,1741, Justice Nathaniel Sawtell. 

May 12, 1742, Nathaniel Sawtell. 

[May 25, 1743, William Lawrence.] 

May 14, 1744, Nathaniel Sawtell. 

May 17, 1745, William Lawrence, Esq. 

May 18, 1746, William Lawrence, Esq. 

May 18, 1747, William Lawrence, Esq. 

May 17, 174S, William Lawrence, Esq. 

May 22, 1749, William Lawrence, Esq. 

May 28, 1750 (the town voted not to send). 

May 27, 1751, William Lawrence, Esq. 

May 14, 1752, William Lawrence, Esq. 

The district of Shirley was set off from Groton on 
January 5, 1753, and the district of Pepperell, three 
months later, on April 12th, and after these dates, un- 
til the period of the Eevolution, the two districts 
were represented in the General Court by the parent 
town. 

Date of Election. 
May 14, 1753, William Lawrence, Esq. 
[May 29, 1754, William Lawrence.] 
May 13, 1755, Colonel William Lawrence. 
May 17, 1756, 'William Lawrence, Esq. 
May 13, 1757, W'illiam Lawrence, Esq. 
May 17, 1758, William Lawrence, Esq. 
May 25, 1759, William Lawrence, Esq. 
May 26, 1760, William Lawrence, Esq. 
May 15, 1761, William Lawrence, Esq. 
May 17, 1762, Captain Abel Lawrence. 
May 16, 1763, Captain Abel Lawrence. 
May 21, 1764, Captain Abel Lawrence. 
May 14, 1765, Captain Abel Lawrence. 



GROTON. 125 

May 12, 1766, Colonel James Prescott. 
May 18, 1767, Colonel James Prescott. 
May 10, 1768, Colonel James Prescott. 
May 23, 1769, Colonel James Prescott. 
May 21, 1770, Colonel James Prescott. 
May 20, 1771, Colonel James Prescott. 
May IS, 1772, Colonel James Prescott. 
May 17, 1773, Colonel James Prescott. 
May 9, 1774, Colonel James Prescott. 
May 22, 1775, Honorable James Prescott. 

After this date Pepperell and Shirley were each 
represented in the General Court separately, and not 
by the parent town. Owing to the political disturb- 
ances, a new Assembly was chosen by the Province 
in the summer of 1775. The precept issued to the 
town of Groton, with the answer, is found among the 
Archives (CXXXVIII. 214) at the State House, as 
follows : 

" Colony of the Massachusetts Bay. 
" These are to will, and require you forthwith to cause the Freeholders, 
& other Inhabitants of your town that have an Estate of Freehold in 
land within this Colony or Territory of forty Shillings %>, r . annum at the 
least, or other Estate to the value of forty Pounds sterling, to assemble 
at such time, & Place as you shall appoint ; then & there to elect, and 
depute one or more Persons (being freeholders, and resident in the same 
town) according to a number set, & limited by an Act of the General 
Court or Assembly, which was conven'd at Watertown on the nineteenth 
day of July current for the Service of this Colony, and is still in being ; 
and to cause the Person or Persons so elect, and deputed by the major 
part of the electors present at such election to be timely notified, & sum- 
moned by one of the constables of your town forthwith to attend the 
Service of this Province in the said general Court, or Assembly, & dur- 
ing the Session or Sessions of the same. Hereof fail not, and make 

a Return of this Precept with the name or names of the Person, or Per- 
sons so elected, & deputed, with their being summoned into the General 
Assembly, as soon as may be after such election, & summons shall be 

"Dated at Watertown this 31st — day of July A.D. 1775. 

" By order of the House of Representatives 

' ' Jas : Warren Speaker 



126 GROTON. 

" To the Selectmen of the town of 

Groton in the County 

of Middlesex Greeting. 

" Pursuant to the Precept within written the Freeholders and other 
Inhabitants of the town of Groton qualify'd as is therein directed, upon 
due Warning given, assembled and met together on the Twenty first day 
of August and then did elect, & depute Capt. Josiah Sartell— to serve 
for, and represent them in the Session, or Sessions of the great, and gen- 
eral Court or Assembly which was conven'd at Watertown on the nine- 
teenth day of July current for the Service of this Colony the said Per- 
son being chosen by a major part of the electors present. 

" Dated in Groton aforesaid the 21 s . 1 day of August— A.D. 1775. 

" Oliver Prescott \ Selectmen 
Isaac Farnsworth V- of 
Amos Lawraxce j Groton 
' ' The Person chosen as abovesaid 
notified thereof & summon'd 
to attend accordingly 

by me Constable of Groton 
Oliver Fletcher 
[Indorsed] " Return from Groton Cap* Josiah Sartell 
" Mr Fowle Please to make out a Precept for the town of Hancock in 
the County of Berkshire— according to this Form — 

[Addressed] "To The Selectmen of the Town of Groton." 

Bate of Election. 
August 21, 1775, Captain Josiah Sartell. 
May 20, 1776, Colonel Josiah Sartell. 
May 26, 1777, Honorable James Prescott. Deacon Isaac Farnsworth, 

declined, and Colonel Josiah Sartell chosen in his place. 
May 18, 1778, Honorable James Prescott. 
May 17, 1779, Honorable James Prescott. 
May 15, 1780, Honorable James Prescott. 

The first General Court of the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts met on Wednesday, October 25, 1780, 
and the Honorable James<Prescott was the represen- 
tative from this town. He was chosen to the House 
on September 4th, and a short time later, in order to 
fill a vacancy in the Senate, he was elected to that 



GROTON. 127 

body by a convention of both branches on Thursday, 
October 26, 1780; and subsequently by another simi- 
lar convention on Friday, October 27th, to the Execu- 
tive Council. At that time the Councilors and Sen- 
ators were chosen on the same general ticket, without 
any special designation of either office, and then the 
Legislature selected from the upper body the mem- 
bers of the Council. 

The Continental Journal, etc., (Boston), November 
2, 1780, gives a list of the members of the General 
Court, where Mr. Prescott appears not only as a rep- 
resentative, but also as a Senator and a Councilor ; 
and in another column of the same newspaper it is 
announced, as a resolution of the Legislature, that 
owing to Mr. Prescott's acceptance of the Senatorship, 
his office as sheriff of Middlesex County was render- 
ed vacant, and owing, furthermore, to the lack of time 
in filling it, agreeably to the new Constitution, the 
session of the Superior Court of Judicature, Court of 
Assize and General Gaol Delivery would stand ad- 
journed for one fortnight. He was also chosen, during 
the years 178i, '82, '83, '84 and '86, first to the Senate, 
and shortly afterwards to the Council, where he ap- 
pears to have served through the respective terms. 
He had previously represented the town in the three 
Provincial Congresses of 1774 and 1775, and his ex- 
perience in legislative bodies was large. 

Two of the representatives in the following list, 
namely, the Hon. Timothy Bigelow and the Hon. 
Luther Lawrence, have been Speakers of the House. 
Mr. Bigelow was first chosen to that position on May 
29, 1805, and for eleven years, at intervals, he con- 



128 GROTOX. 

tinued to fill the office — the longest term of service in 
that capacity ever held by one person — though during 
a part of this period he was representing the town 
of Medford. He was Speaker at the time of the 
separation of Maine from Massachusetts. Mr. 
Lawrence, a brother-in-law of Mr. Bigelow, was 
elected to the same office on May 29, 1822, and 
held it during one year. It is not a little singu- 
lar that they both were occupants, at different 
times, of the same dwelling, formerly situated on 
Main Street, but now moved away; and both had 
their law-offices in a building near by, where, also, 
Mr. Dana, the president of the Senate, had had his 
law-office. This coincidence is by no means weak- 
ened by the fact that Governor Boutwell, the present 
owner of the place, was once the Democratic candi- 
date for the Speakership, when the Legislature met 
on January 6, 1847, and he also was a resident of the 
town at that time. It may be worthy of note that 
another Speaker, the Hon. Timothy Fuller, the father 
of Margaret, who is known as the Countess d'Ossoli, 
was a citizen of Groton for some years before his 
death, which took place on October 1, 1835. 

Under the Constitution originally the political year 
began on the last Wednesday of May, but the Sena- 
tors and Eepresentatives were chosen at different 
times. The members of the House were elected, 
annually, in the month of May, ten days at least be- 
fore the last Wednesday of that month, and their 
term of service was during the year of their election. 



GROTON. 129 

UNDER THE STATE CONSTITUTION. 

Date of Election. 
September 4, 1780, Hon. James Prescott. 
May 14, 1781, Deacon Isaac Farns worth. 
May 13, 1782, Deacon Isaac Farnsworth, declined, and Israel Hobart 

chosen in his place. 
May 12, 1783, Israel Hobart. 
May 10, 1784, Dr. Benjamin Morse. 
May 9, 1785, Ebenezer Champney. 
May 8, 1786, (the town voted by one majority not to send). 

On March 7, 1787, the General Court passed an or- 
der fining the town of Groton twenty-four pounds and 
ten shillings for its neglect to send a representative 
during the preceding year. Forty other towns were 
fined various sums at the same time for a similar 
neglect ; and among them were Pepperell, Dunstable, 
Westford, Littleton, Harvard and Lunenburg. 

Date of Election. 
May 7, 1787, Dr. Benjamin Morse. 
May 12, 1788, Dr. Benjamin Morse. 
May 11, 1789, Dr. Benjamin Morse. 
May 4, 1790, (the town voted not to send). 
May 9, 1791, Major Aaron Brown. 
May 7, 1792, Major Aaron Brown. 

May 6, 1793, Major Aaron Brown, Mr. Timothy Bigelow. 
May 12, 1794, Mr. Timothy Bigelow. 
May 6, 1795, Mr. Timothy Bigelow. 
May 2, 1798, Mr. Timothy Bigelow. 
May 1, 1797, Mr. Timothy Bigelow. 
May 14, 1798, Hon. Timothy Bigelow. 
May 6, 1799, Hon. Timothy Bigelow. 
May 5, 1800, Hon. Timothy Bigelow. 
May 4, 1801, Hon. Timothy Bigelow. 
May 3, 1802, Hon. Timothy Bigelow. 
May 2, 1803, Samuel Dana. 
May 7, 1804, Hon. Timothy Bigelow, 
May 6, 1805, Hon. Timothy Bigelow, Speaker. \ 

May 5, 1806, Hon. Timothy Bigelow, Speaker. 
May 4, 1807, Joseph Moors. 

9 



130 GROTON. 

May 2, 1808, Joseph Moors. 

May 1, 1809, Joseph Moors, Oliver Prescott. 

May 7, 1810, Oliver Prescott, James Brazer. 

May 6, 1811, Major Joseph Moors, Major Thomas Gardner. 

May 4, 1812, Joseph Moors, Luther Lawrence. 

May 3, 1813, Joseph Moors, Luther Lawrence. 

May 2, 1814, Joseph Moors, Luther Lawrence. 

May 1, 1815, Luther Lawrence. 

May 6, 1816, Luther Lawrence. 

May 5, 1817, Luther Lawrence. 

May 4, 1818, Luther Lawrence. 

May 3, 1819, Luther Lawrence. 

May 1, 1820, Luther Lawrence. 

May 7, 1821, Luther Lawrence. 

May 6, 1822, Luther Lawrence, Speaker. 

May 12, 1823, (the town voted not to send). 

May 23, 1824, Captain Noah Sbattuck. 

May 2, 1825, Hon. Samuel Dana. 

May 1, 1826, Hon. Samuel Dana. 

May 7, 1827, Hon. Samuel Dana. 

May 5, 1828, (the town voted not to send). 

May 4, 1829, Caleb Butler, declined, and William Livermore chosen in 

his place. 
May 3, 1830, Luther Lawrence, William Livermore. 
May 11, 1831, Captain John Boynton. 

(The town voted not to choose a second representative.) 

By the tenth Article of Amendment to the Consti- 
tution of Massachusetts, adopted by the General 
Court during two successive sessions, and ratified by 
the people on May 11, 1831, the beginning of the 
political year was changed from the last Wednesday 
in May to the first Wednesday in January, and the 
day of election changed to the second Monday in 
November. In this list hereafter the term of service 
is during the year following the date of election. 

Bate of Election. 
November 12, 1832, Captain John Boynton, Captain John Rockwood. 
November 11, 1833, Captain John Boynton, Captain John Rockwood. 



GROTON. 131 

November 10, 1834, Captain John Boynton, Timothy Blood. 
November 9, 1835, Captain John Boynton, Timothy Blood. 
November 14, 1836, John Gray Park, Dr. Joshua Green. 
November 13, 1837, Dr. Joshua Green. 

(The town voted not to choose a second representative.) 
November 12, 1838, John Gray Park, Captain Daniel Shattuck. 
November 11, 1839. (the town voted not to send.) 
November 9, 1840, John Boynton. 
November 8, 1841, George Sewall Boutwell. 
November 14, 1842, George Sewall Boutwell. 
November 13, 1843, George Sewall Boutwell. 
November 11, 1844, William Livermore, Jr. 
November 10, 1845, "William Livermore, Jr. 
November 10, 1846, George Sewall Boutwell. 

Mr. Boutwell was chosen on the third trial by five 
majority. On the preceding day there had been a 
tie vote twice between him and Edward Coburn, the 
Whig candidate. 

Date of Election. 
November 8, 1847, George Sewall Boutwell. 
November 13, 1848, George Sewall Boutwell. 
November 12, 1849, George Sewall Boutwell. 
November 11, 1850, Phinehas Gilman Prescott. 
November 10, 1851, Phinehas Gilman Prescott. 
November 8, 1852, William Shattuck. 
November 14, 1S53, William Shattuck. 
November 13, 1854, John Warren Parker. 
November 12, 1855, John Warren Parker. 

By the fifteenth Article of Amendment to the State 
Constitution, adopted by the General Court during 
two successive sessions, and ratified by the people on 
May 23, 1855, the day of election was changed to the 
Tuesday next after the first Monday in November. 

Date of Election. 
November 4, 1856, Warren Fay Stone. 

Under Chapter CCCVIIL, Acts of 1857, a new 
apportionment of Representatives was made through- 



132 GROTON. 

out the State, and the town of Groton became, there- 
by, in connection with the towns of Pepperell, Shir- 
ley, Westford and Dunstable, the Twenty-sixth Mid- 
dlesex District, with two Representatives. 

Date of Election. 
November 3, 1857, Eliel Shumway. 
November 3, 1857, Kobert Parker Woods. 
November 7, 1860, George Henry Brown. 
November 4, 1863, George Samuel Gates. 
November 8, 1865, Benjamin Franklin Taft. 

Mr. Shuniway's election was contested before the 
General Court by Allen Curnrnings, of Dunstable, 
and a hearing was given by the Committee on Elec- 
tions ; but the matter was decided in favor of Mr. 
Shumway. For a full statement of the case, see 
"Reports of Controverted Elections in the Senate 
and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth 
of Massachusetts from 1853 to 1885 inclusive " (page 
41), by Edward P. Loring and Charles Theodore 
Russell, Jr. (Boston, 1886). 

By another apportionment, made under Chapter 
CHI., Acts of 1866, Groton and Pepperell became 
the Thirty-first Middlesex District, and were entitled 
to one Representative. The tow T n of Ayer, on its 
incorporation, February 14, 1871, except that part 
which had previously belonged to Shirley, was added 
to the district. 

Date of Election. 
November 7, 1866, Danial Needham. 
November 4, 1868, William Livermore. 
November 2, 1869, Edmund Dana Bancroft. 
November 5, 1873, George Samuel Gates. 

By still another apportionment, under Chapter 
XV., Acts of 1876, Groton became, in connection 



GROTOX. 133 

with Westford, Dunstable and Pepperell, the Thirty- 
fourth Middlesex District, and entitled to one Repre- 
sentative. 

Date of Election. 
November S, 1876, Asa Stillman Lawrence. 
November 3, 1880, Asa Stillman Lawrence. 
November 7, 1883, Moses Poor Palmer. 
November 12, 1886, George Sumner Graves. 

Colonel William Lawrence was a member of the 
General Court during seventeen years, — the longest 
term of service of any Representative from the town ; 
and after him came the Hon. James Prescott, who 
served fifteen years. 

Mr. Boutwell ?'s now the senior surviving member, 
and, with the exception of Phineas Oilman Prescott, 
William Shattuck, Warren Fay Stone, George Henry 
Brown and George Sumner Graves, all his successors 
are still alive. 

REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD. 

FIRST PROVINCIAL CONGRESS OF DEPUTIES. 

Date of Election. Term of Service. 
May 9, 1774 Honorable James Prescott 1774 

SECOND PROVINCIAL CONGRESS OF DEPUTIES. 

December 26, 1774 . . . Honorable James Prescott 1775 

THIRD PROVINCIAL CONGRESS OF DEPUTIES. 

May 22, 1775 Honorable James Prescott 1775 

MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF WAR. 

October 30, 1776 Oliver Prescott, declined. 

November 16, 1776 . . . James Prescott 1776-1779 

MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL. 

May 29, 1777 Oliver Prescott 1777-1779 

According to the records of the General Court, 
when the Board of War was first chosen on October 



134 GROTON. 

30, 1776, "Brigf. Prescot " was elected a member. 
This referred to Dr. Oliver Prescott, at that time a 
brigadier-general, but it does not appear that he ever 
took his seat with the board. On November 13th the 
records state that two of the members, whose names 
are given, had declined, and their places were at once 
filled ; and on November 16th five more resignations 
were announced, — though no names are mentioned, — 
and the vacancies then filled. Dr. Prescott was un- 
doubtedly one of the five who declined at this time. 
Among those chosen at the second election was 
" Colonel Prescot," who was James, a brother of 
Oliver. It is a little singular that their Christian 
names are not given in the records, as both were well- 
known men. The " Journal of the House," October 
30, 1776, prints the name of "James Prescott, Esq ; " 
as one of the nine original members chosen at that 
time, but this is an error. Colonet Prescott attended 
his first meeting with the Board of War on Decem- 
ber 18, — according to the manuscript minutes of the 
Board. 

VARIOUS OFFICERS. 

GOVERNOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH. 

Bate of Election. Term of Service^ 

January 11, 1851 . . . Honorable George Sewall Boutwell 18.51, 1852 

SECRETARY OF THE UNITED STATES TREASURY. 

(Under President Grant.) 
March 11, 1869 .... Honorable George Sewall Boutwell . 1869-1S73 

BENATOB IN CONGRESS. 

March 12, 1873 . . . . Honorable George Sewall Boutwell . 1873-1877 

REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. 

November 5, 1810 . . . Honorable William Mercbant Rich- 
ardson 1811-1814 

November 7, 1814. . . Honorable Samuel Dana 1814,1815 

November 4, 1862 . . . Honorable George Sevvell Boutwell 1863-1869 



GROTON. 1 35 

MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL. 

October 27, 1780 .... Honorable James Prescott . . 1780-1784, 178G 
May 28, 1802 Honorable Timothy Bigelow 1802 

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTOR. 

November 6, 1820 . . . Honorable Samuel Dana 1820 

(The Electoral College of Massachusetts cast its vote on December 7, 
1820, unanimously in favor of James Monroe for President.) 

DELEGATES TO CONSTITUTION AL CONVENTIONS. 
Convention for forming the Constitution of Massachusetts, September 1, 1779. 
Date of Election. Term of Service. 

August 16, 1779 .... Honorable James Sullivan 1779, 1780 

(Mr. Sullivan was afterward Governor of the Commonwealth, and 
died on December 10, 1S08, while holding the office.) 

Convention for adopting the Constitution of the United States, January 

9, 1788. 

December 3, 1787 .... Dr. Benjamin Morse, Joseph Sheple, Esq. 1788 

(Both these delegates opposed the adoption.) 

Convention for altering the Constitution of Massachusetts, November 15, 1820. 

.„„ f Honorable Samuel Dana, ) ,„,„,«„-. 

August 21, 1820 < T .. _ _ ' [ . . . 1820, 1821 

l Luther Lawrence, Esq. J 

Convention for altering the Constitution of Massachusetts, May 4, 1853. 

March 7, 1853 John Gray Park, Esq 1853 

(Mr. Boutwell, of Groton, represented the town of Berlin, Worces- 
ter County, in this Convention.) 

JUDGES AND OTHER COURT OFFICERS. 

CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS. 

Late of Appointment. Term of Service. 

June 3, 1803 . . . Honorable James Prescott, Jr 1803 

(By an Act passed on June 21, 1811, the Court of Common Pleas 
became the Circuit Court of Common Pleas.) 

CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COMMON PLEAS. 

October 14, 1811 . . Honorable Samuel Dana 1811-1820 

JUSTICE OF COURT OF COMMON PLEAS. 

December 21, 1782 . . Honorable James Prescott 1782-1800 



136 GROTON. 

JUDGES OF PROBATE. 

July 1, 1779 Honorable Oliver Prescott 1779-1804 

(Reappointed on March 27, 1781.) 
February 1, 1S05 . . . Honorable James Prescott, Jr 1805-1821 

SHERIFF. 

September 6, 1775 . . Honorable James Prescott 1775-1780 

CLERK OF THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS. 

May 28, 1783 .... William Swan, Esq 1783-1789 

" The Massachusetts Eegister and United States 
Calendar for the year of our Lord 1806" (page 75) 
gives Ephraim Wood, of Groton, as one of the jus- 
tices of the Court of Common Pleas in Middlesex 
County, but the place of residence is without doubt a 
mistake. I cannot find that Judge "Wood ever lived 
at Groton. 

A LIST OF THE RESIDENTS 

Of Groton who held Commissions from the Governor 
and Council, during the Provincial Period. 

Late of Appointment. 

August 27, 1713, Captain Jonas Prescott, Justice of the Peace. 

December 9, 1715, Captain Jonas Prescott, Justice of the Peace. 

December 26, 1727, Benjamin Prescott, Justice of the Peace. 

October 10, 1729, Benjamin Prescott, Justice of the Peace. 

March 19, 1729-30, Captain Nathaniel Sartle, Justice of the Peace. 

July 9, 1731, Benjamin Prescott, Justice of the Peace. 

July 9, 1731, Nathaniel Sartle, Justice of the Peace. 

June 27, 1735, Benjamin Prescott, in place of Paul Dudley, a Special 
Justice of the Superior Court of Judicature. 

January 2, 1735-36, Benjamin Prescott, Justice of the Peace and of the 
Quorum. 

November 10, 1737,Benjamin Prescott, in place of Paul Dudley, a Spec- 
ial Justice in divers cases. 

December 29, 1739, William Lawrence, Justice of the Peace and of the 
Quorum. 

August 12, 1749, William Lawrence, Special Justice of the Inferior 
Court of Common Pleas. 



GEOTON. 137 

June 21, 1751, William Lawrence, Special Justice of the Inferior Court 
of Common Pleas. 

January 2, 1753, James Prescott, Justice of the Peace. 

June 26, 1755, William Lawrence, Justice of the Inferior Court of Com- 
mon Pleas, in place of Francis Fulham, resigned. 

November 20, 1761, William Lawrence, Justice of the Peace and of the 
Quorum. 

November 20, 1761, James Prescott, Justice of the Peace. 

June 8, 1764, Abel Lawrence, Justice of the Peace. 

Coroners. — The first three names mentioned below 
are taken from the Council records ; but the others 
are found in the " Record of Civil Commissions," in 
the office of the Secretary of State. Under the Con- 
stitution coroners were appointed for life, unless 
sooner removed ; but by an act passed on April 29, 
1862, their tenure of office was limited to seven years, 
subject to reappointment. By another act passed on 
May 9, 1877, the office was abolished, and, so far as 
related to inquests, the medical examiner was substi- 
tuted in place of the coroner. 

Bate of Appointment. 

March 8, 1759, Israel Hubbard [Hobart]. 

November 20, 1701, Israel Hobart. 

(These two persons were the same.) 
July 12, 1769, Isaac Farnsworth. 
August 28, 1775, Isaac Farnsworth. 
September 24, 1778, Ephraim Russell. 
March 27, 1781, Ephraim Russell. 
March 2, 1790, Samuel Lawrence. 
March 2, 1790, Peter Edes. 
January 7, 1801, Samson Woods. 
February 3, 1803, William Farwell Brazer. 
July 4, 1803, James Lewis, Jr. 
July 5, 1809, William Lawrence. 
February 20, 1810, Abel Farnsworth. 
August 20, 1811, Jacob Lakin Parker. 
March 2, 1813, Amos Lawrence. 
May 26, 1817, Benjamin Moors. 



138 GROTON. 

February 9, 1820, William Austin Bancroft. 

(Mr. Bancroft was a resident of Townsend at the time of his 
appointment.) 
January 16, 1822, David Childs. 
June 29, 1852, Jacob Pollard. 
May 15, 185C, John Mason Porter. 
April 2, 1858, Eusebius Silsby Clarke. 
April 10, 1860, Asa Stillman Lawrence. 
January 24, 1866, John Quincy Adams McCollester. 
April 16, 1867, Asa Stillman Lawrence. 
April 30, 1869, Benjamin Lincoln Howe. 
April 30, 1874, Asa Stillman Lawrence. 

NATIVES OF GROTON 

And Residents of the Town, who have Afterward Filled 
Important Positions Elsewhere. 

Honorable John Prescott Bigelow, born at Groton 
on August 25, 1797, Harvard College, 1815 ; Secretary 
of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1836-43 ; 
Member of the Executive Council, 1845-49 ; Mayor 
of Boston, 1849-51. Died in Boston on July 4, 
1874. 

Honorable Henry Adams Bullard, born at Groton 
on September 9, 1788, Harvard College, 1807 ; Justice 
of the Sixth District Court of Louisiana, 1822-31 ; 
Kepresentative in Congress from Alexandria and New 
Orleans, Louisiana (Twenty-first, Twenty-second and 
Thirty-first Congresses), 1831-34, '50, '51; Justice of 
the Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1834-46, with the 
exception of a few months in 1839, when he acted as 
Secretary of State. Died in New Orleans on April 
17, 1851. 

Mr. Bullard's father was the settled minister at 
Pepperell, but all the printed accounts of hi3 life say 



GROTON. 139 

that he was born at Groton, which is my authority for 
the statement. 

Honorable Willard Hall, born at Westford on De- 
cember 24, 1780, Harvard College, 1799 ; studied law 
with the Honorable Samuel Dana at Groton ; Secre- 
tary of the State of Delaware, 1811-14, '21 ; Repre- 
sentative in Congress from Wilmington, Delaware 
(Fifteenth and Sixteenth Congresses), 1817-21 ; Judge 
of the United States District Court in Delaware, 
1823-71. Died in Wilmington on May 10, 1875. 

Honorable John Harris, born at Harvard on Octo- 
ber 13, 1769, Harvard College, 1791 ; studied law with 
the Honorable Timothy Bigelow at Groton ; Justice 
of the Superior Court of Judicature of New Hamp- 
shire, 1823-33. Died at Hopkinton, New Hampshire, 
on April 23, 1845. 

Honorable Amos Kendall, born at Dunstable on 
August 16, 1789, Dartmouth College, 1811 ; studied 
law with the Honorable William Merchant Richard- 
son at Groton ; Postmaster-General under Presidents 
Jackson and Van Buren, 1835-40. Died in Wash- 
ington, D. C, on June 12, 1869. 

Honorable Abbott Lawrence, born at Groton on 
December 16, 1792 ; Representative in Congress from 
Boston (Twenty-fourth and Twenty-sixth Congresses), 
1835-37, '39, '40 ; Presidential Elector, 1844; Envoy 
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Great 
Britain, 1849-52. Died in Boston on August 18, 
1855. 

Honorable John Locke, born at Hopkinton, Massa- 
chusetts, on February 14, 1764, Harvard College, 
1792 ; studied law with the Honorable Timothy 



1 40 GROTON. 

Bigelow at Groton ; Eepresentative in Congress from 
Ashby, Massachusetts (Eighteenth, Nineteenth and 
Twentieth Congresses), 1823-29; Member of the 
Executive Council, 1831. Died in Boston on March 
29, 1855. 

Honorable Thomas Rice, born at Pownalborough 
(now Wiscasset), Maine, on March 30, 1768, Harvard 
College, 1791 ; studied law with the Honorable 
Timothy Bigelow at Groton; Representative in Con- 
gress from Augusta, District of Maine, Massachusetts 
(Fourteenth and Fifteenth Congresses), 1815-19. 
Died at Winslow, Maine, on August 24, 1854. 

Honorable William Merchant Richardson, born at 
Pelham, New Hampshire, on January 4, 1774, Har- 
vard College, 1797 ; Preceptor of Groton Academy, 
1799-1802 ; studied law with the Honorable Samuel 
Dana at Groton ; Postmaster, 1804-12 ; Representa- 
tive in Congress from Groton (Twelfth and Thirteenth 
Congresses), 1811-14; removed to Portsmouth, New 
Hampshire, and afterward became Chief Justice of 
the Superior Court of Judicature of that State, 1816— 
38. Died at Chester, New Hampshire, on March 23, 
1838. 

Honorable Ether Shepley, born at Groton on No- 
vember 2, 1789, Dartmouth College, 1811 ; Senator in 
Congress from Maine, 1833-36 ; Justice of the Supreme 
Judicial Court of Maine, 1836-48 ; Chief Justice of 
the same Court, 1848-55. Died in Portland on Janu- 
ary 15, 1877. 

Honorable Samuel Emerson Smith, born at Hollis, 
New Hampshire, on March 12, 1788, Harvard Col- 
lege, 1808 ; studied law with the Honorable Samuel 



GROTOX. 141 

Dana at Groton ; Justice of the Court of Common 
Pleas of Maine, 1822-1830; Governor of Maine, 
1831-1833; Justice of the Court of Common Pleas 
again, 1835-1837. Died at Wiscasset, Maine, on 
March 3, 1860. 

Honorable Asahel Stearns, born at Lunenburg, 
June 17, 1774, Harvard College, 1797 ; Preceptor of 
Groton Academy during a short period immediately 
after his graduation ; studied law with the Honorable 
Timothy Bigelow at Groton ; representative in Con- 
gress from Chelmsford, Massachusetts (Fourteenth 
Congress), 1815-1817 ; University Professor of Law at 
the Harvard Law School, 1817-1829. Died in Cam- 
bridge on February 5, 1839. 

Honorable James Sullivan, born at Berwick, Maine, 
on April 22, 1744; Member of the three Provin- 
cial Congresses, from Biddeford, 1774, 1775; resident 
of Groton, 1778-1782; delegate to the Continental 
Congress, 1782 ; Member of the Executive Council, 
1787; Judge of Probate, Suffolk County, 1788-1790 ; 
Attorney-General, 1790-1807 ; First President of tne 
Massachusetts Historical Society, 1791-1806 ; Gov- 
ernor of the Commonwealth, 1807, 1808. Died in 
Boston on December 10, 1808, while in office. 

Honorable John Varnum, born at Dracut on June 
25, 1778, Harvard College, 1798 ; studied law with 
the Honorable Timothy Bigelow at Groton ; Bepre- 
sentative in Congress from Haverhill, Massachusetts 
(Nineteenth, Twentieth and Twenty-first Congresses), 
1825-1831. Died at Niles, Michigan, on July 23,. 
1836. 

Iii the spring of 1765 the odious Stamp Act wa3 



142 GROTOX. 

passed, which did much to hasten public opinion to- 
ward the American Revolution. This town sympa- 
thized warmly with the feeling, and prepared to do 
her part in the struggle. A large number of her in- 
habitants had received their schooling in the French 
War, as their fathers before them had received theirs 
during the Indian troubles. Such persons did not 
now enter upon camp life as raw troops, but as ex- 
perienced and disciplined soldiers. The town had 
men willing to serve and able to command. The 
leaders of the Revolution displayed great foresight in 
the careful attention paid to the details of their work ; 
and the final success of the struggle was due as much 
to their sagacity as to the deep feeling of the people. 
On the side of the patriots the skirmishes of April 19, 
1775, were fought by companies made up of minute- 
men, organized on a recommendation of the First 
Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, in a resolve 
passed at Cambridge on October 26, 1774. It was at 
that time recommended to the field officers of the 
various militia regiments that they should enlist at 
least one-quarter of their respective commands, and 
form them into companies to be held in readiness, at 
the shortest notice by the Committee of Safety, to 
march to the place of rendezvous. Such soldiers 
soon became known as minute-men, and proved to be 
of very great help and strength to the popular cause. 
Two companies were enlisted at Groton ; and at the 
desire of the officers, the Rev. Samuel Webster, of 
Temple, New Hampshire, on February 21, 1775, 
preached a sermon before them, which was afterward 
printed. It was there stated that a large majority of 



GROTON. 143 

the town had engaged to hold themselves in readi- 
ness, agreeably to the plan of the Provincial Congress, 
to act in the service of their country. The sermon is 
singularly meagre in those particulars which would 
interest us at the present time, and is made up largely 
of theological opinions, perhaps as valuable now as 
then, but not so highly prized. 

On the memorable 19th of April two compa- 
nies of minute-men, under the respective commands 
of Captain Henry Farwell and Captain Asa Law- 
rence, marched from Groton to Concord and Cam- 
bridge ; and on the same day for the same destination 
two other companies of militia, under the respective 
commands of Captain Josiah Sartelland Captain John 
Sawtell. According to the company rolls at the State- 
House, there were in FarwelPs company, at the time 
of marching, three commissioned officers and fifty-two 
men, and in Lawrence's three officers and forty-three 
men ; and in the two militia companies (SartelFs) 
three officers and forty-five men, and (Sawtell's) one 
officer and twenty-five men, respectively, though in 
Sawtell's company some of the men were from Pep- 
perell. 

In the battle of Bunker Hill, on June 17, 1775, one 
commissioned officer and eleven soldiers, residents of 
Groton, were either killed in the fight or mortally 
wounded. This roll of honor comprises the names of 
Lieutenant Amaziah Fassett, who fell wounded and 
died a prisoner on July 5th; Sergeant Benjamin 
Prescott, a son of the Hon. James Prescott, and a 
nephew of Colonel William Prescott, who commanded 
the American forces, and privates Abraham Blood, 



144 GROTOX. 

Chambers Corey, James Dodge, Peter Fisk, Stephen 
Foster, Simon Hobart, Jonathan Jenkins, David 
Kemp, Robert Parker and Benjamin Woods. This 
was the largest loss experienced by any town in the 
battle, and it shows the patriotic character of the citi- 
zens at that period. Colonel Prescott, the commander 
on the American side, and three of the Pepperell 
soldiers who lost their lives in the fight, were natives 
of Groton. 

During the War for the Union the record of the 
town is equally honorable. According to General 
William Schouler's " History of Massachusetts in the 
Civil War " (ii. 409), she furnished four hundred men 
for the public service, which was a surplus of forty- 
nine over and above all demands; of whom twenty- 
four were commissioned officers. Forty of these sol- 
diers were either killed in battle or died of their 
wounds, or of sickness contracted in the army. A 
marble tablet w r ith their names cut in the stone has 
been placed in the hall of the Town-House in grate- 
ful recognition of their services and dedicated to their 
memory. The whole amount of money raised and 
appropriated by the town for war purposes, exclusive 
of State aid, was thirty-one thousand seven hundred 
and twenty-four dollars and forty-seven cents ($31,- 
724.47). 

Camp Stevens at Groton. — During the War of 
the Rebellion, in the autumn of 1862, the Common- 
wealth of Massachusetts established a military camp 
at Groton, on the triangular piece of land situated in 
the southwesterly part of the town, and bounded by 
the Peterborough and Shirley Railroad, the Nashua 



. GROTON. 145 

River and the road to Shirley Village. It contained 
eighteen or twenty acres, more or less, and at that 
time belonged to Joseph Cutts; the entrance was near 
the angle made by the railroad and the highway. 
The Fifty-third Regiment of Infantry, Massachusetts 
Volunteer Militia, while its ranks were recruiting, 
was encamped on this ground. The regiment was 
raised from Groton and Clinton, Leominster, Fitch- 
burg and other towns in the neighborhood belonging 
to Worcester County, and was mustered into the 
public service for nine months. 

Special Order, No. 916, issued by the Adjutant- 
General of the Commonwealth, September 19, 1862, 
contains the following: 

"A camp of rendezvous is established at Groton Junction, Middlesex 
Co., where barracks are being built, which is designated Camp Stevens. 
Capt. W. C. Sawyer, 23d Regt. Mass. Vols., is appointed Commandant. 
Due notice will be given when the barracks are ready for use." 

Special Order, No. 955, under the date of Septem- 
ber 23d, has the following : 

" Lindsey Tilden [Charles Linzee Tilden], 20th Regt. Mass. Vols , is 
detailed for Post Adjutant at Camp Stevens, Groton." 

The camp was so named in memory of General 
Isaac Ingalls Stevens, a native of Andover and a 
graduate of West Point, who was killed in the battle of 
Chantilly, Virginia, on September 6, 1862, only a fort- 
night before the camp was established. 

The commandant was Wesley Caleb Sawyer, born 
in the adjoining town of Harvard, on August 26, 
1839, who graduated at Harvard College in the class 
of 1861. Soon after leaving Cambridge he was com- 
missioned, on October 8, 1861, as a captain in the 
10 



146 GROTON. 

Twenty-third Massachusetts Volunteers, and he left 
the State with that regiment. He was attached to 
Burnside expedition, that went to North Carolina; in 
the battle of Newbern, March 14, 1862, he was se- 
verely wounded, which resulted in the amputation of 
his left thigh, and necessarily prevented him from 
further participation in an active campaign. 

The regiment left Camp Stevens on Saturday, No- 
vember 29th, for New York, where it remained until 
January 17, 1863, at which time it embarked for New 
Orleans. Subsequently to the departure of the troops 
from Groton, the following order was issued ; 

" Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 

" Head Quarters, Boston, Dec. 20, 1862. 
" Special Order, No. 1311. 

"The troops which were enlisted and mustered into service at Camp 
Stevens, Groton Junction, having left the Commonwealth for the seat of 
war, Capt. Wesley C. Sawyer, Commandant of the Camp, is relieved 
from further service, and I am directed by His Excellency, the Com- 
mander-in-Chief, to thank Capt. Sawyer for the acceptable manner in 
which he has performed the duties of his post. 

" By order of the Commander-in-Chief, 

"William Schouler, 

"Adjt. General.'''' 

Since the war Captain Sawyer has studied at 
Gottingen, Germany, where he received the degree of 
Doctor of Philosophy. He has held the professorship 
of Philosophy and Ehetoric at Lawrence University, 
Appleton, Wisconsin, but is now connected, as a 
professor, with the Normal School at Oshkosh, Wis- 
consin. 

The barracks and other structures used by the 
soldiers at Camp Stevens have long since disappeared, 
and not a trace of the former occupation is to be seen. 



GROTON. 147 

Years ago some of the buildings were taken down, and 
the rest were removed, mostly to Ayer. George James 
Burns, Esq., a lawyer of that town, wrote an interest- 
ing article for The Groton Landmark, June 25, 
1887, which traces the history of many of these build- 
ings. 

In the autumn of 1862, Dr. Elward Jarvis, of Dor- 
chester, was appointed by Surgeon-General Dale to 
visit the various camps in the State, of which there 
were ten, and report on their sanitary condition. The 
result of his labors may be found in two communi- 
cations printed in The Boston Medical and Surgical 
Journal for December 4 and 11, 1862 (LXVII. 364- 
367 and 381-384, respectively), wherein he makes 
some criticism on Camp Stevens. 

According to the " Record of Massachusetts Volun- 
teers, 1861-65" (I. 390-392), the following soldiers 
died in camp at Groton : Henry A. Waters, of Shir- 
ley, Co. D, on October 25, 1862; Spencer Stockwell, 
of Athol, Co. E, November 20th ; and Daniel P. Hem- 
enway, of Barre, Co. F, December 1st. 

The veterans of the war have organized a post of 
Grand Army of the Republic, which is called the 
E. S. Clark Post, No. 115. It is named after Major 
Eusebius Silsby Clark, of Groton, a gallant officer of 
the Twenty-sixth Massachusetts Volunteers, who was 
mortally wounded at Winchester, Virginia, on Sep- 
tember 19, 1864, and died on October 17, 1864. 

The Population of Groton at Different 
Times.— The town of Groton was formerly a much 
more important place relatively, both in size and in- 
fluence, than it is at the present time. According to 



148 GROTON. 

the census of 1790, it was then the second town in 
Middlesex County, Cambridge alone having a larger 
population. At that time Groton had 322 families, 
numbering 1840 persons; and Cambridge, 355 fami- 
lies, numbering 2115 persons. Charlestown had a pop- 
ulation of 1583, and Newton, 1360. Reading, with 
341 families (nineteen more than Groton), numbered 
1802 persons (thirty-eight less than Groton). Woburn 
then had a population of 1727 ; Framingham, 1598 ; 
Marlborough, 1554, and Waltham, 882. Pepperell 
contained 1132 inhabitants; Shirley, 677 ; Westford, 
1229, and Littleton, 854. 

There were at that time in Middlesex County forty - 
one towns, which number has since been increased to 
forty-seven towns and seven cities ; and in the mean- 
while Brighton and Charlestown have been merged in 
the municipality of Boston, and thus have lost their 
separate existence. Major Aaron Brown, of Groton, 
and General Henry Woods, of Pepperell, were the 
marshals who took the census of the county, with the 
exception of that small portion lying on the further 
side of the Merrimack River. 

A comparison of the population of the town at dif- 
ferent periods is somewhat interesting to those famil- 
iar with its history. John Tinker, in a petition to the 
General Court, dated October, 1659, four years after 
the incorporation of the town, says that the planta- 
tion "Continueth vnpeopled." The report of the 
committee, — of which Thomas Danforth was chair- 
man, — dated May 23, 1661, and already quoted, states 
that there were four or five families' "planted" at 
that time. In March, 1676, when the town was 



GROTON. 149 

burned by the Indians, it was estimated by the Rev. 
William Hubbard, in his narrative, that there were 
then sixty families in the place. Another writer of 
that period puts the number of dwellings destroyed 
at sixty-six, aDd says that only six houses were left 
standing. From these estimates it would appear that 
the population of the town at the time of its destruc- 
tion was between 300 and 350 inhabitants. From 
March, 1676, until the early spring of 1678 the settle- 
ment was abandoned and entirely deserted. In 
March, 1680, there were forty families in the town, as 
appears by some statistical returns printed in " The 
New England Historical and Genealogical Register " 
(V. 173) for April, 1851. In March, 1707-8, there 
were sixty-seven polls (" Collections of the American 
Statistical Association," p. 146), which would indicate 
a population of about 300 persons. At the beginning 
of the year 1755 there were fourteen negro slaves in 
town — seven men and seven women — who were six- 
teen years old or upwards. 

On June 2, 1763, Governor Francis Bernard sent a 
message to the General Court, expressing his wish that 
a census of the Province might be taken ; but that 
body paid no heed to the suggestion. On January 19, 
1764, he renewed the proposition, and apparently 
with better success ; for the Legislature, on February 
2d, adopted an order carrying out his wishes. The 
popular heart, however, was not in the work, and no 
interest was taken in the measure. The people were 
suspicious of the rulers in England, and jealous of 
all political interference ; and it is but natural that 
the census proceeded slowly. On March 5, 1765, an 



150 GROTON. 

act was passed by the General Court to carry into ef- 
fect an order which had previously been passed for 
numbering the people within the Province. This ac- 
tion shows that the Governor's pet scheme was not re- 
ceiving a warm support. 

With these drawbacks, and under such conditions, 
the first census of the houses, families and number of 
people in the Province of Massachusetts Bay ever 
taken was finished in the year 1765. Singularly 
enough, there are now no returns of this enumeration 
among the Provincial or State Archives, where they 
were undoubtedly placed. How or when they disap- 
peared is a matter of conjecture; but probably they 
Avere lost amid the confusion that naturally prevailed 
during the Revolutionary period. Fortunately a copy 
of this census was found by the late Judge Samuel 
Dana, of Groton, among some papers of a deceased 
friend, which had then lately come into his posses- 
sion ; and by him sent to the. Columbian Centinel 
newspaper, where it was printed for the first time in 
the issue of August 17, 1822, more than half a cen- 
tury after the enumeration was made. From this 
source is derived all the information concerning the 
figures of the census of 1765 ; and the printed copy, 
in the absence of any other, is an authority second in 
importance only to the original manuscript returns. 
At that time the town of Groton had 1408 inhabit- 
ants. 

Akin to this subject, there is in the Library of the 
Massachusetts Historical Society a memorandum- 
bOok, which contains some interesting facts con- 
nected directly or indirectly with the population of 



GROTON. 151 

the Commonwealth during the Revolutionary period. 
According to this authority the population of Groton 
in the year 1776 was 1639; the number of ratable 
polls in 1778 was 362, and the number in 1781 was 
395. 

In compliance with a resolution of Congress, an 
act was passed by the General Court of Massachu- 
setts on July 2, 1784, requiring the assessors of towns 
to make certain returns, from which it appears that 
there were at that time 418 polls in Groton. This 
was the largest number returned by any town in the 
county, with the single exception of Cambridge, 
which had 457 polls ; and after Groton came Reading 
with 399 polls, and Woburn svith 395, followed closely 
by Frarningham with 389. 

At the several decennial dates of the United States 
census, the population of Groton has been as follows 
In the year 1790, 1,840; 1800, 1,802; 1810, 1,886 
1820, 1,897; 1830, 1,925; 1840, 2,139; 1850, 2,515 
1860, 3,193; 1870, 3,584, and 1880, 1,862. The town 
of Ayer was incorporated on February 14, 1871, and 
made up almost entirely from the territory of Gro- 
ton, which accounts for the great diminution in the 
population between the last two decennial periods, 
as given above. The new town started on its corpo- 
rate existence with a population nearly equal to that 
of the parent town, and, with all the vigor of youth, 
soon surpassed it in size. 

The population of Groton, as taken by the State 
in the quinquennial years, has been as follows : In 
the year 1855, 2,745; 1865, 3,176; 1875, 1,908, and 
1885, 1,987. By all the enumerations, National or 



152 GROTON. 

State, made during the present century, it will be 
seen that there has been a steady increase in the 
population of the town, with the exception of the 
period between the years 1860 and 1865, when there 
was a slight decrease of seventeen inhabitants, and of 
the period between 1875 and 1880, when there was a 
falling off of forty-six inhabitants. The loss in the 
first instance was due, of coarse, to the disturbing 
effects of the Civil War. 

The population of Ayer in the year 1885 was 2190 ; 
and if that village had not been separately incorpor- 
ated, the population of Groton would now be consid- 
erably more than 4000 inhabitants. According to 
the last State census there were thirty-two towns or 
cities in Middlesex County larger than Groton, and 
twenty-one towns smaller. 

The original Groton Plantation, as granted by the 
General Court on May 25, 1655, has furnished the 
entire territory of Ayer; the whole of Pepperell, with 
the exception of a narrow strip lying along its north- 
ern boundary, which once belonged to the West Par- 
ish of Dunstable (Hollis); the whole of Shirley, with 
the exception of a small portion formerly known as 
"Stow Leg;" one-half of Dunstable; and has con- 
tributed more or less to form five other towns, namely, 
Harvard, Littleton and Westford (including a part 
of Forge Village), in Massachusetts, besides Nashua 
and Hollis, in New Hampshire. The total popula- 
tion of this territory is now more than 10,000 inhab- 
itants. 

Summary. — Population of Groton at Different 
Times. — Town incorporated on May 25, 1655 ; in Oc- 



GROTON. 1 53 

tober, 1659, " vnpeopled ;" in May, 1661, four or five 
families; in March, 1676, about 300 inhabitants; in 
March, 1680, forty families; in March, 1708, 67 polls; 
in March, 1765, 1408 inhabitants ; in 1776, 1639 in- 
habitants; in 1778, 362 polls; in 1781, 395 polls, and 
in 1784, 418 polls. 

Year. Inhabitants. Year. Inhabitants. 

1790 1840 1855 2745 

1800 1802 1860 3193 

1810 1886 1865 3176 

1820 1897 1870 3584 

1830 . . ■„.... •.... 1925 1875 1908 

1840 2139 1880 1862 

1850 2515 1885 1987 

The approximate population of the town, under 
the national census of 1890, is 2071, though these 
figures are subject to change in the official count. 

Slavery in Grotox. — During a long period be- 
fore the Kevolution, Groton had one element in her 
population which does not now exist, and which to-day 
has disappeared from almost the whole civilized world. 
At the beginning of the year 1755 there were fourteen 
negro slaves in town, seven men and seven women 
who were sixteen years old or upwards. At that 
time Townsend had three slaves, two men and one 
woman ; Shirley had one, a man ; and Pepperell made 
no return of having any. Westford had five, but the 
sex is not given. These facts are gathered from a 
census of negro slaves in Massachusetts, ordered by 
the Province, which is published in the third volume, 
second series, of the Collections of the Massachusetts 
Historical Society (pages 95-97). 

William Banks, a negro or mulatto, was married at 



154 GROTON. 

Groton on December 21, 1719, by Francis Fullain, a 
justice of peace, to Hannah Wansaniug. William 
appears to have been a slave belonging to Eleazer 
Robbins, of Groton, and Hannah was an Indian, who 
is called in the records "late of Lancaster; " but un- 
fortunately the marriage was not a happy one. With 
all confidence in her husband, the wife bought his 
freedom, when he proved false to his plight and prom- 
ise, and deserted her. The story, told in her own 
words, is found in the Journal of the Massachusetts 
House of Representatives, June 13, 1724 (page 39): 

" A Petition of Hannah Banks Indian, shewing that she bought of 
Eleazer Robbins of Groton his Servant Man's Time, and gave a Bond 
of I. 15 for Payment of the same, that afterwards she married the said 
Servant Man, who is since absconded, and the said Bobbins hath put the 
said Bond in Suit, and cast the Petitioner into Prison in Boston, that the 
Principal Debt with the Charges hath arisen to I. 25 which Mr. Edward 
Buggies of Boxbury hath paid for her, praying this Court would please 
to enable the said Edward Buggies to Sell such a part of her Land in 
Xatick, as will satisfy him for his advance of said Twenty-Five Pounds. 

" Bead and committed to the Committee for Petitions." 

The following advertisement, not an unusual one 
for that period, appears in The Boston Evening- 
Post, July 30, 1739 : 

RAN away from his Master, Mr. John Woods of Groton, on Thursday 
the 12th of this Instant July, a Negro Man Servant named Caesar, 
about 22 Years of Age, apretty short ivell sett Fellow. He carried with him 
a Blue Coat and Jacket, a pair of Tow Breeches, a Castor Hat, Stockings 
and Shoes of his own, and « Blue Cloth Coat with flowered Metal Buttons, 
a white flower' d Jacket, a good Bever Hat, a Gray Wigg, and a pair of new 
Shoes of his Master's, with some other things. It is suspected there is some 
white Person that may be with him, or design to make Use of hi* Master's 
Apparel above described. 

Wlioever shall take up the said Servant, and bring him to his above-said 
Master in Groton, or be a Means of convicting any person or Confederate 
with said Servant as above suspected, shall have Five Pounds Reward for 
each of them, and all necessary Charges paid. 



GROTON. 1 55 

Another advertisement appears in The Boston 
Gazette and Country Journal, June 13, 1774, as 
follows : 

Ten Dollars Reward. 
T3 AX AWAY from the Subscriber, Joseph Moors, of Groton, in the 
-*-*> County of Middlesex, and Province of Massachusetts-Bay, a 
Molatto Man Servant, named TITUS, about 20 Years of Age, of a mid- 
ling Stature, wears short cuiTd Hair, has one of his Fore-Teeth broke 
out, took with him a blue Surdan, a Snuff-coloured Coat, and a Pair of 
white wash'd Leather Breeches, a Pair of new Cow-Hide Pumps and a 
Furr'd Hat with large Brims, and sundry other Articles of Wearing 

Apparel. Whoever will take up said Servant and confine him in 

any of his Majesty's Goals, so that the Owner may have him again, shall 
have TEN DOLLARS Reward and all necessary Charges paid, by 

JOSEPH MOORS. 
4®"" AU Masters of Vessels and others, are hereby Cautioti'd against 
Harbouring, Concealing, or carrying off said Servant, as they would thereby 
avoid the Penalty of the Law. 

The following marriage is entered in the church rec- 
ords under the date December 28, 1742 : 'Triamus 
(Cap* Boydens Negro man servant [)] to Margr 1 . Mo- 
latto formerly servant to S. S. both of Groton." It is 
also recorded that Margaret, the servant of Samuel 
Scripture, Jr., was baptized on January 30, 1733-34, 
and that she owned the church covenant at the same 
time. The initials " S. S." stand for Samuel Scrip- 
ture. This negro couple was afterward blessed with a 
family of children, and they lived on the west side ot 
the Nashua River, a short distance north of the 
county road to Townsend. His surname was Lew or 
Lue, and his given name became contracted into Pri- 
mus ; and to this day the rise of ground, near the 
place where the Pepperell road leaves the main road, 
is known as Primus Hill, so called after him. Mr. 
Butler thinks that perhaps Margaret's name was 



156 GROTON. 

Lew. See his History (page 454). Their oldest child, 
— Zelah, a corruption of Barzillai, — bom at Groton 
on November 5,' 1743, was a famous musician, who 
lived at Dracut and the father of numerous children 
who were also musicians. He was a fifer in Captain 
John Ford's company of the twenty-seventh Massa- 
chusetts Regiment, in service at the siege of Boston, 
and was present at the Battle of Bunker Hill. 

About the year 1740 there was a negro slave in Gro- 
ton by the name of Boad, who used to look after the 
cattle sent up to Groton Gore in the spring to be pas- 
tured during the summer. See " The Boundary Lines 
of Old Groton " (page 37). The church records con- 
tains the entry of the baptism of Hagar, a servant ot 
William Green, on August 1, 1765. 

Akin to the subject of slavery in Groton is this 
item, from The Groton Landmark, November 14, 
1885 :— 

" Gov. Boutwell has in an old scrap-book the following interesting 
Memorandum : 

"August, 1856. 

"Noah Shattuck, esq., informs me that there were eleven slaves in 
Groton when slavery was abolished, and he mentioned the following 
names: Chloe Williams, Phillis Cutler, Phillis Sartell, Ichabod 
Davis, Fanny Borden and William Case. Phineas Wait also owned one 
slave." 

. Noah Shattuck. a son of Job and Sarah (Hartwell) 
Shattuck, was born on August 30, 1772, and died on 
September 28, 1858. 

The following entry is found in the town records, 
and refers to the last survivor of negro slavery within 
the limits of the town. The institution was abolished 
by the adoption of the State Constitution in the year 



GROTON. \~x 

1780, the courts holding that the Bill of Rights swept 
away the remnants of involuntary servitude: 

"Phillis Walby, servant to Josiah Sawtell, Jun., deceased, died at 
Groton, aged 79, February — , 1821." 

The following extract from the town records refers 
to Titus, who is advertised as a runaway in The 
Boston- Gazette, and Country Journal, June 13, 1774, 
as mentioned above. The advertiser was a son of 
Abraham Moors, the owner of Zebina, the slave- 
mother : 

" Titus, a molato boy born of Zebinah, a negro slave to M>. Abraham 
Moors, March — , 1751." 

A List of the Town Clerks (from the year 1662 
to the present time, with the dates of their election 
and terms of service. In this list the years are given 
according to the new style of reckoning, and in spe- 
cifying dates, small fractions of years are overlooked. 
The town was attacked by the Indians iu the spring 
of 1676, and abandoned by the inhabitants until 
March, 1678. 

The earliest records of the town were written by 
Richard Sawtell, and begin on June 23, 1662, though 
his election as town clerk was not recorded until De- 
cember 24, 1662. During the period since that date 
there have been thirty-four town clerks, of whom five, 
namely, Jonathan Morse, William Longley, Jr., James 
Blanchard, Jonathan Sheple and Samuel Rockwood, 
died while iu office — Longley being killed by the 
Indians on July 27, 1694. During the early part of 
1682 Captain James Parker, Richard Blood and Jonas 
Prescott made entries in the records, though no one of 
them appears to have been at the time town clerk. Jon- 



1 58 GROTON. 

athan Morse was the first who signed the records with 
his name, though the pjactiee with him was not con- 
stant. William Longley, William Longley, Jr., and 
John Longley were representatives of three successive 
generations in the same family, being father, son and 
grandson. On December 9, 1687, William Longley, 
Jr., was chosen clerk, but he acted as such during 
only a part of the next town meeting on May 21, 
1688, when he was followed by Josiah Parker, who 
made the entry for so much of that meeting as oc- 
curred after his election. Mr. Bingham, the present 
occupant, has filled the position for more than thirty- 
five years continuously — by far the longest term of 
service of any town clerk. Joseph Lakin, with a rec- 
ord of seventeen years, comes next to him in length of 
time. Of all the persons mentioned in the list, only 
the last three are now living, namely, Mr. Boutwell, 
Mr. Parker and Mr. Brigham ; and their combined 
term of service covers just forty-four years. Since the 
death of Mr. Park, which took place on September 
23, 1875, these three have been the only survivors. 
Mr. Butler died on October 7, 1854, and Mr. Boyn- 
ton on November 30, 1854 — less than eight weeks 
apart. 

Date of Election. 
December 24, 1G52, Kichard Sawtell, 1662-1664. 
January 27, 1665, James Fisk, 1665. 
December 2, 1665, William Longley, 1666, 1667. 
December 11, 1667, John Page, 1668. 
November 11, 1668, Kichard Blood, 1669. 
November 10, 1669, John Morse, 1670-1676. 

(Town abandoned during two years.) 
1678, James Parker, 1678, 1679. 
December 23, 1679, John 3Iorse, 1689, 1681. 

1682, Jonathan Morse (died July 31, 1686), 1682-1686. 



GROTON. 159 

December 10, 1686, Josiah Parker, 1686, 1687. 

December 9, 1687, William Longley, Jr., 1688 (a short time only). 

May 21, 1688, Josiah Parker, 1688-1691. 

December 10, 1691, Jonas Prescott, 1692. 

December 12, 1692, William Longley, Jr. (killed July 27, 1694), 1693- 

1694. 
March 4, 1605, James Blanchard, 1695. 
March 3, 1696, Jonas Prescott, 1696. 

December 10, 1696, James Blanchard (died Feb., 1704), 1697-1704. 
March 8, 1704, Thomas Tarbell, 1704, 1705. 
March 5, 1706, Joseph Lakin, 1706-1722. 
March 5, 1723, John Longley, 1723-1726. 
March 7, 1727, Joseph Lakin, 1727. 
March 5, 1728, John Longley, 1728, 1729. 
March 3, 1730, Jonathan Sheple, 1730. 
March 2, 1731, Thomas Tarbeli, Jr., 1731-1733. 
March 5, 1734, Jonathan Sheple, 1734-1744. 
March 5, 1745, Thomas Tarbell, Jr., 1745-1756. 

March 1, 1757, Abel Lawrence, 1757-1764. 

March 5, 1765, Oliver Prescott, 1765-1777. 

March 3, 1778, Isaac Farnsworth, 1778-1781. 

March 5, 1782, Abel Bancroft, 1782, 1783. 

March 2, 1784, Jonathan Keep, 1784. 

March 1, 1785, Abel Bancroft was chosen, but declined. 

March 1, 1785, Isaac Farnsworth, 1785-1787. 

March 4, 1788,-Xathaniel Sartel was chosen, but declined. 

March 10, 1788, Joseph Shed, 1788-1704. 

March 3, 1795, Samuel Lawrence, 1795-1798. 

March 5, 1790, Samuel Rockwood (died May 29, 1804), 1799-1804. 

June 18, 1S04, Oliver Prescott, Jr., 1804-1810. 

March 5, 1811, Joseph Mansfield, 1811-1814. 

March 7, 1815, Caleb Butler, 1815-1817. 

March 3, 1818, Joseph Mansfield, 1818. 

March 2, 1819, Noah Shattuck, 1819-1822. 

March 3, 1823, Caleb Butler, 1823-1831. 

March 6, 1832, John Boynton, 1832, 1S33. 

March 4, 1834, John Gray Park, 1834-1836. 

March 6,1837, John Boynton, 1837-1845. 

March 3, 1846, George Sewall Boutwell, 1846-1850. 

March 4, 1851, John Warren Parker, 1851-1854. 

March 5, 1855, George Dexter Brigham, 1855- 



160 



GKOTOX, 



A List of the Treasurers (so far as they 
are found in the town records, with the dates 
of their election and terms of service). — Alden 
Warren served during twenty-four years, which is the 
longest term of any treasurer ; and next to him, in 
length of service, was Benjamin Bancroft, who filled 
the office for seventeen years. After him came Cal- 
vin Boynton, who served during sixteen years, and 
then Capt. Ephraim Sawtell, with a term of fifteen 
years. William Livermore, who was treasurer in 
1845, is the senior survivor ; and, with the exception 
of the brothers George and Walter Shattuck, all his 
successors are still alive. 



Date of Election. 
[March ?], 1697, Capt. Jas. Parker. 
March 1, 1709, " Samuill Woods 
trasewer" 

March 7, 1710, Samuel Woods. 
March 6, 1711, Samuel Woods. 
March 4, 1712, Jonathan Boiden. 
March 3, 1713, Jonathan Boiden. 
March 2, 1714, " Shebuall hobart " 
March 1, 1715, Shebuel Hobart. 
March 6, 1716, Jonathan Boiden. 
March 5, 1 7 17, Jonathan Boiden. 
March 4, 1718, John Longley. 
March 3, 1719, John Longley. 
March 1, 17i0, John Longley. 
March 7, 1721, John Longley. 
March 6, 1722, John Longley. 
March 5, 1723, Thomas Lawrence. 
March 3, 1721, Thomas Lawrence. 
March 2, 1725, Thomas Lawrence. 
March 1, 1726, Thos. Lawrence, Sr 
March 7, 1727, Thomas Lawrence. 
March 5, 1728, Thomas Lawrence. 
March 4, 1729, Samuel Tarbell. 



Date of Election. 
March 3, 1730, Samuel Tarbell. 
March 2, 1731, Samuel Tarbell. 
March 7, 1732, "Justis Prescott." 
March 6, 1733, Benj. Prescott, Esq. 
March 5, 1734 (In the list of town 
officers chosen on this day the 
treasurer's name is omitted 
probably through an oversight 
but without doubt it was Ben- 
jamin Prescott). 
March 4, 1735, Benj. Prescott, Esq. 
March 2, 1736, Benj. Prescott, Esq. 
March 7, 1737, Benj. Prescott, Esq. 
March 6, 1738, "Justice Sawtell." 
March 4, 1739, Natb. Sawtell, Esq. 
1740 (no record is found). 
March 3, 1741, Nath. Sawtell, Esq. 
1742 (no record is found). 
March 1, 1743, " Deacon Longley." 
March 6, 1744, Dea. John Longley 
March 5, 1745, Dea. John Longley 
March 3, 1746, Dea. John Longley 
March 3, 1747, Dea. John Longley 



GROTON. 



161 









March 1 
March 6 
March 5 
March 5 
March 3 
March 6 
March 5 
March 1 
March 2. 
March 1 
March 7 
March 6 
March 4 
March 3 
March 2 
March 1 
March 6 
March 5 
March 4 
March 3 
March 1 
March 7 
March 6 
March 5 
March 3 
March 2 
March 1 
March 7 
March 5, 
March 4 
March 
March 2 
March 7 
March G 
March 5 
March 4 
March 2 
March 1 
March 7 
March 6, 
March 4 



1748, Dea. John Longley 

1749, Dea. John Longley 

1750, Capt. Eph. Sawtell 

1751, Capt. Eph. Sawtell 

1752, Capt. Eph. S.iwtell 

1753, Capt. Eph. Sawtell 

1754, C*apt. Eph. Sawtell 

1755, Capt. Eph. Sawtell 

1756, Capt. Eph. Sawtell 

1757, Capt. Eph. Sawtell 
175S, Capt. Eph. Sawtell 

1759, Capt. Eph. Sawtell 

1760, Capt. Eph. Sawtell 

1761, Capt. Eph. Sawtell 

1762, Capt. Eph. Sawtell 

1763, Capt. Eph. Sawtell 

1764, Capt. Eph. Sawtell 

1765, Benjamin Bancroft 

1766, Benjamin Bancroft 

1767, Benjamin Bancroft 

1768, Benjamin Bancroft 

1769, Benjamin Bancroft 

1770, Benjamin Bancroft 

1771, Benjamin Bancroft 

1772, Benjamin Bancroft 

1773, Benjamin Bancroft 

1774, Dea. Benj. Bancroft 

1775, Dea. Benj. Bancroft 

1776, Dea. Benj. Bancroft 

1777, Dea. Benj. Bancroft 

1778, Dea. Benj. Bancroft 

1779, Dea. Benj. Bancroft 

1780, Dea. Benj. Bancroft 

1781, Dea. Benj. Bancroft 

1782, Lieut. Jona. Keep. 

1783, Lieut. Jona. Keep. 

1784, Israel Hohart, Esq. 

1785, Israel Hobart, Esq. 

1786, Isaiah Edes. 

1787, Isaiah Edes. 

1788, Isaiah Edes. 

11 



March 3, 1789, Isaiah Edes. 
March 2, 1790, Isaiah Edes. 
March 1, 1791, Isaiah Edes. 
March 6, 1792, Isaiah Edes. 
March 5, 1793, Isaiah Edes. 
March 4, 1794, Isaiah Edes. 
March 3, 1795. Isaiah Edes. 
March 1, 1796, Joseph Shed. 
March 7, 1797, Joseph Shed. 
March 6, 1798, Joseph Shed. 
March 5, 1799. Joseph Shed. 
March 4, 1800, Joseph Shed. 
March 3, 1801, Joseph Shed. 
March 2, 1802, Joseph Shed. 
March 1, 1803, Joseph Shed. 
March 6, 1804, Solomon Tarbell. 
March 5, 1805, Solomon Tarbell. 
March 4, 1806, Lieut. Sol. Tarbell. 
March, 3, 1807, Lieut. Sol. Tarbell. 
March 1, 1808, Lieut. Sol. Tarbell. 
March 7, 1809, Lieut. Sol. Tarbell. 
March 6, 1810, Lieut. Sol. Tarbell. 
March 5, 1811, Lieut. Sol. Tarbell. 
March 3, 1812, Lieut. Sol. Tarbell. 
March 2, 1813, Lieut. Sol. Tarbell. 
April 4, 1814, Alpheus Kichardson. 
March 7, 1815, Alpheus Richardson 
March 5, 1816, Calvin Boyntou. 
March 4, 1817, Calvin Boynton. 
March 3, 1818, Calvin Boynton. 
March 2, 1819, Calvin Boynton. 
March 7, 1820, Calvin Boynton. 
March 6, 1821, Calvin Boynton. 
March 5, 1822, Calvin Boyuion. 
March 3, 1823, Calvin Boynton. 
March 2, 1824, Calvin Boynton. 
March 1, 1825, Calvin Boynton. 
March 7, 1826, Calvin Boynton. 
March 6, 1827. Calvin Boynton. 
March 4, 1828, Calvin Boynton. 
March 3, 1829, Calviu Boynton. 



162 



GROTON. 



Date of Election. 
March 2, 1830, Calvin Boynton. 
March 1, 1831, Calvin Boynton. 
March 6, 1832, John Peabody. 
Marcli 5, 1833, John Peabody. 
March 4, 1834, John Peabody. 
3Iarch 3, 1835, John Peabody. 
March 1, 1836, John Peabody. 
March 6, 1837, John Peabody. 
March 6, 1838, John Peabody. 
March 5, 1839, John Peabody. 
March 3, 1840, John Peabody. 
March 2, 1841, John Peabody. 
March 1, 1842, John Peabody. 
March 7, 1843, John Peabody. 
March 5, 1844, Daniel Shattuck. 
March 4, 1845, Win. Livermore, Jr 
March 3, 184G, George Shattuck. 
March 2, 1847, George Shattuck. 
March 6, 1S48, George Shattuck. 
March 6, 1S49, Walter Shattuck. 
March 5, 1*50, Walter Shattuck. 
March 4, 1851, Walter Shattuck. 
March 2, 1852, Walter Shattuck. 
March 1, 1853, Daniel Needhani. 
March 6, 1854, Daniel Needham. 
March 5, 1855, Alden Warren. 
March 3, 1S56, Alden Warren. 
March J. 1S57, Alden Warren. 
March 1, 1858, Alden Warren. 
March 7, 1859, Alden Warren. 
March 5, 1860, Alden Warren. 

The Old Stores and the Post-Office of Gro- 
ton. — Tradition has preserved little or nothing in re- 
gard to the earliest trading-stores of Groton. It is 
probable, however, that they were kept in dwell- 
ing-houses by the occupants, who sold articles in 
common use for the convenience of the neighbor- 
hood, and at the same time pursued their regular 
vocations. 



Date of Election. 
March 4, 1861, Alden Warren. 
March 3, 1862, Alden Warren. 
March 2, 1863, Alden Warren. 
March 7, 1864, Alden Warren. 
March 6, 1865, Ald^n Warren. 
March 5, 1866, Alden Warren. 
March 4, 1867, Alden Warren. 
March 2, 1868, Alden Warren. 
March 1, 1869, Alden Warren. 
March 7, 1870, Alden Warren. 
March 6, 1871, Alden Warren. 
March 4, 1872, Aldeu Warren. 
March 3, 1873, Alden Warren. 
March 2, 1874, Alden Warren. 
March 1, 1875, Alden Warren. 
March 6, 1876, Alden Warren. 
March 5, 1S77, Alden Warren. 
March 4, 1878, Alden W arren. 
March 3, 1879, George S. Gates. 
March 1, 1880, George S. Gates. 
March 7, 18S1, George S. Gates. 
April 3, 1882, George S. Gates. 
April 2, 1883, George S. Gates. 
April 7, 1884, George S. Gates. 
April 6, 1885, George S. Gates. 
April 5, 1886, George S. Gates. 
April 4, 1887, George S. Gates. 
April 2, 1888, George S. Gates. 
April 1, 1889, George S. Gates. 
April 7, 1890, George S. Gates. 



GROTON. 163 

Jonas Cutler was keeping a shop on the site of Mr. 
Gerrish's store before the Revolution, and the follow- 
ing notice, signed by him, appears in The Massachu- 
setts Gazette (Boston), November 28, 1768: 

"A THKFT. 

" Whereas ou the 19th or 20th Night of November Instant the Shop 
of the Subscriber was broke open in Groton, aud from thence was stollen 
a large Sum of Cash, viz., four Half Johannes, two Guineas, two Half 
Ditto, One Pistole mill'd, nine Crowns, a Considerable Number of Dol- 
lars, with a considerable Quantity of small Silver & Copper, together 
with one Bever Hat, about fifteen Yards of Holland, eleven Bandannas, 
blue Ground with white, twelve red ditto with white, Part of a Piece 
of Silk Komails, 1 Pair black Worsted Hose, 1 strip'd Cap, 8 or 10 black 
barcelona Handkerchiefs, Part of a Piece of red silver'd Ribband, blue & 
white do, Part of three Pieces of black Sattin Ribband, part of three 
pieces of black Tafferty ditto, two bundles of Razors, Part of 2 Dozen 
Penknives, Part of 2 Dozen ditto with Seals, Part of 1 Dozen Snuff 
Boxes, Part of 3 Dozen Shoe Buckels, Part of several Groce of Buttons, 
one Piece of gellow [yellow ?] Ribband, with sundry Articles not yet 

known of Whoever will apprehend the said Thief or Thieves, so 

that he or they may be brought to Justice, shall receive TEN DOL- 
LARS Reward and all necessary Charges paid. Jonas Cutler. 

" Groton, Nov. 22, 17G3 [8]. 

" 4®=" If any of the above mentioned Articles are offered to Sail, it is 
desired they may be stop'd with the Thief, and Notice given to said Cut- 
ler or to the Printers." 

On October 21, 1773, a noted burglar was hanged 
in Boston for various robberies committed in different 
parts of the State, and covering a period of some 
years. The unfortunate man was present at the de- 
livery of a sermon by the Reverend Samuel Stillman, 
preached at his own request, on the Sunday before 
his execution ; and to many of the printed copies is 
appended an account of his life. In it the poor 
fellow states that he is only twenty-one years old, and 
that he was born in Groton of a respectable family. 



164 GROTOX. 

He confessed that he broke into Mr. Cutler's shop, 
and took away " a good piece of broad-cloth, a quan- 
tity of silk mitts and several pieces of silk handker- 
chiefs." He was hardly seventeen years of age at the 
time of this burglary. To the present generation it 
would seem cruel and wicked to hang a misguided 
youth for offences of this character. 

Mr. Cutler died on December 19, 1782; and he was 
succeeded in business by Major Thomas Gardner, who 
erected the building formerly known as Gerrish's 
Block, which was moved away in the summer of 1885. 
Major Gardner lived in the house now owned by the 
Watters family. 

Near the end of the last century a store, situated a 
little north of the late Benjamin Perkins Dix's house, 
was kept by James Brazer, which had an extensive 
trade for twenty miles in different directions. It was 
here that the late Amos Lawrence served an ap- 
prenticeship of seven years, which ended on April 
22, 1807; and he often spoke of his success in busi- 
ness as due, in part, to the experience in this store. 
Late in life he wrote that "the knowledge of every- 
day affairs which I acquired in my business ap- 
prenticeship at Groton has been a source of pleasure 
and profit even in my last ten years' discipline." 

The quantity of New England rum and other 
liquors sold at that period would astonish the tem- 
perance people cf the present day. Social drinking 
was then a common practice, and each forenoon some 
stimulating beverage was served up to the customers 
in order to keep their trade. There were five clerks 
employed in the establishment ; and many years later 



GROTOX. 165 

Mr. Lawrence, in giving advice to a young student in 
college, wrote : 

"In the first place, take this for your motto at the commencement of 
your journey, that the difference of going just right, or a little wrong, 
will be the difference of finding yourself in good quarters, or in a miser- 
able bog or slough, at the end of it. Of the whole number educated in 
the Groton stores for some years before and after myself, no one else, to 
my knowledge escaped the bog or slough ; and my escape I trace to the 
simple fact of having put a restraint upon my appetite. We five boys 
were in the habit, every forenoon, of making a drink compounded of 
rum, raisins, sugar, nutmeg, &c, with biscuit,— all palatable to eat and 
drink. After being in the store four weeks, I found myself admonished 
by my appetite of the approach of the hour for indulgence. Thinking 
the habit might make trouble if allowed to grow stronger, without fur- 
ther apology to my seniors I declined partaking with them. My first 
resolution was to abstain for a week, and, when the week was out, for a 
month, and then for a year. Finally, I resolved to abstain for the rest 
of my apprenticeship, which was for five years longer. During that 
whole period, I never drank a spoonful though I mixed gallons daily for 
my old master and his customers." * 

The following advertisement is found in the Co- 
lumbian Centinel (Boston), June 8, 1805 : 

' ' James Brazer, 
Would inform the public that having dissolved the Copartnership lately 
subsisting between AARON BROWN, Esq. SAMUEL HALE and the 
Subscriber ; he has taken into Copartnership his son WILLIAM F. 
BRAZER, and the business in future will be transacted under the firm 

James Brazer & Son ; 

They will offer for sale, at their store in Groton, within six days a com- 
plete assortment of English, India, and W. India GOODS, which they 
will sell for ready pay, at as low a rate as any store in the Country. 

" James Brazer. 
"Groton, May 29, 1805." 

" Squire Brazer," as he was generally called, was a 
man of wealth and position. He was one of the 

1 Diary and Correspondence of Amos Lawrence, pages 24, 25. 



1(36 GROTON. 

founders of Groton Academy, and his subscription of 
£15 to the building fund in the year 1792 was as large 
as that given by any other person. In the early part 
of this century he built the house now belonging to 
the academy and situated just south of it, where he 
lived until his death, which occurred on November 
10, 1818. His widow, also, took a deep interest in 
the institution, and at her decease, April 14, 1826, be- 
queathed to it nearly five thousand dollars. 

After Mr. Brazer's death the store was moved across 
the street, where, until the summer of 1885, it re- 
mained, forming the wing of Gerrish's Block. The 
post-office was in the north end of it during Mr. 
Butler's term as postmaster. About this time the son, 
William Farwell Brazer, built a store nearly opposite 
to the Academy, which he kept during some years. 
It was made finally into a dwelling-house, and occu- 
pied by the late Jeremiah Kilbourn. 

The brick store opposite to the High School was 
built in the year 1835, by Henry Woods, for his own 
place of business, and afterwards kept by him and 
George S. Boutwell, the style of the firm being Woods 
& Boutwell. Mr. Woods died on January 12, 1841, 
and he was succeeded by his surviving partner, who 
carried on the store for a long time, even while hold- 
ing the highest executive position in the State. In 
the spring of 1855, when he began to practice law, 
Governor Boutwell sold out the business to Brigham 
& Parker. The post-office was in this building during 
the years 1839 and 1840 and until April, 1841. For 
the past thirty years it has been occupied by various 
firms, but is now T kept by John H. Sheedy & Com- 
pany. 



GROTON. 167 

During the last war with England, Eliphalet 
Wheeler had a store where Miss Betsey Capell and 
her sisters, Sarah and Catherine, in more modern 
times, kept a haberdasher's shop. It is situated op- 
posite to the Common, and is now used as a dwell- 
ing-house. They were daughters of John Capell, 
who owned the saw-mill and grist-mill, which 
formerly stood on the present site of the Tileston and 
Hollingsworth paper-mills, on the Great Road, north- 
west of the village. Afterward Wheeler and his 
brother, Abner, took Major Thomas Gardner's store, 
where he was followed by William F. Brazer, Park & 
Woods, Park & Potter, Potter & Gerrish and lastly 
by Charles Gerrish, who kept it for more than thirty 
years. It was given up as a store in July, 1884, and 
has since been moved away and made into a tene- 
ment-house. 

Near the beginning of the present century there 
were three military companies in town : the Artillery 
Company, commanded at one time by Captain James 
Lewis; the North Company, by Captain Jonas Gil- 
son, and the South Company, by Captain Abel Tar- 
bell. Two of these officers were soon promoted in 
the regimental service ; Captain Tarbell to a col- 
onelcy, and Captain Lewis to a majorate. Captain 
Gilson resigned and was succeeded by Captain Noah 
Shattuck. They had their spring and fall training- 
days, when they drilled as a battalion on the Com- 
mon, — there were no trees there then, — and marched 
through the village. They formed a very respectable 
command, and sometimes would be drawn up before 
Squire Brazer's store, and at other times before Major 



168 GKOTON. 

Gardner's, to be treated with toddy, which was then 
considered a harmless krink. 

David Child had a store, about the beginning of 
the century, at the south corner of Main and Pleas- 
ant Streets, nearly opposite to the site of the Orthodox 
meeting-house, though Pleasant Street was not then 
laid out. It was subsequently occupied by Deacon 
Jonathan Stow Adams, then by Artemas Wood, and 
lastly by Milo Henry Shattuck. This was moved off 
nearly twenty years ago, and a spacious building put 
up a few rods north, on the old tavern site across the 
way, by Mr. Shattuck, who still carries on a large 
business. 

Alpheus Richardson kept a book-store, about the 
year 1815, in his dwelling, at the south corner of Main 
and Elm Streets, besides having a book-bindery in 
the same building. Soon afterward an L w T as added 
to the house, and for a short time he carried on a 
country variety store in connection with his other 
business. The book-store and binder's shop were 
continued until about 1850. It is said that this house 
was built originally by Colonel James Prescott, for 
the use of his son, Abijah, as a store ; but it never 
was so occupied by him. 

Joseph and Phineas Hemenway, uncles of the late 
Augustus Hemenway, of Boston, built a store on the 
north corner of Main and Elm Streets, about the 
year 1815, where they carried on a trading business. 
They were succeeded by one Richardson, then by 
David Childs ; and finally by John Hamilton Spalter, 
who had for many years a book-store and binder's 
shop in the building, which is now used as a dwell- 



GROTON. 169 

ing-house. At the present time Mr. Spalter is living 
in Keene, New Hampshire. 

About the year 1826, General Thomas Adams 
Staples built and kept a store on Main Street, di- 
rectly north of the Orthodox meeting-house. He was 
followed successively by Benjamin Franklin Law- 
rence, Henry Hill and Walter Shattuck. At one 
time the style of the firm was Shattuck, Brown & 
Company. The building was burned down very early 
on Tuesday morning, November 17, 1874, and its 
site is now occupied by Dr. David Roscoe Steere's 
house. 

In November, 1844, a large building was moved 
from Hollis Street to the corner of Main and Court 
Streets. It was put up originally as a meeting-house 
for the Second Adventists or Millerites, as they were 
called in this neighborhood, after William Miller, 
one of the founders of the sect; and during the fol- 
lowing winter and spring it was fitted up in a com- 
modious manner, with shops in the basement and a 
spacious hall in the second story. The building was 
known as Liberty Hall, and formed a conspicuous 
structure in the village. It was first occupied by 
tenants in July, 1845. The post-office was kept there 
while Mr. Lothrop and Mr. Andruss were the post- 
masters. It was used as a shoe-store, a grocery and a 
bakery, when, on Sunday, March 31, 1878, it was 
burned to the ground. 

The brick store, owned by the Dix family, was 
built and kept by Aaron Brown, near the beginning 
of the century. He w r as followed by Moses Carleton, 
and after him came and Merriam, and then 



170 GROTON. 

Benjamin P. Dix. It is situated at the corner of 
Main Street and Broad Meadow Road, and is now 
used as a dwelling-house. A very good engraving of 
this building is given in The Groton Herald, May 8, 
1830, which is regarded by persons who remember it 
at that time as a faithful representation, though it 
has since undergone some changes. 

Near the end of the last century Major William 
Swan traded in the house now occupied by Charles 
Woolley, Jr., north of the Common, near the old 
burying-ground. It was Major Swan who set out the 
elms in front of this house, which w T as the Rev. Dr. 
Chaplin's dwelling for many years. 

At the beginning of this century two daughters of 
Isaac Bowers, a son of Landlord Bowers, had a dry- 
goods shop in the house owned and occupied by the 
late Samuel William Rowe, Esq. About the year 
1825 Walter Shattuck opened a store in the building 
originally intended for the Presbyterian Church, op- 
posite to the present entrance of the Groton Ceme- 
tery. Before the Revolution there was a store kept 
by Jonathan Clark Lewis, near the site of Captain 
Asa Stillman Lawrence's bouse, north of the Town 
Hall. Mr. Lewis was an Englishman by birth, and 
died on April 7, 1781. See "Groton Epitaphs" for 
a cut of the family coat-of-arms, which appears on 
his grave-stone- There was a trader in town, Thomas 
Sackville Tufton by name, who died in the year 1778, 
though I do not know the site of his shop. Captain 
Samuel Ward, a native of Worcester, and an officer 
in the French and Indian War, was engaged in busi- 
ness at Groton some time before the Revolution. He 



GROTON. 171 

removed to Lancaster, where at one time he was the 
town clerk, and died there on August 14, 1826. 

The Groton Post- Office. — The Groton post-office was 
established at the very beginning of the present cen- 
tury, and before that time letters intended for this 
town were sent through private hands. Previous to 
the Revolution there were only a few post-offices in 
the Province, and often persons in distant parts of 
Massachusetts received their correspondence at Bos- 
ton. In The Boston Gazette, or County Journal, June 
30, 1755, a letter is advertised for Samuel Bowers, of 
Groton, who at that time kept a tavern; and in the 
same newspaper of August 4, 1755, another is adver- 
tised for Captain Samuel Parker, and one for Dudley 
Woodbridge, who lived probably at Groton, Connec- 
ticut. It is also stated that "none of the above Let- 
ters came by the last mails." In the supplement to 
The Boston Gazette, February 9, 1756, letters are 
advertised as remaining uncalled for, at the Boston 
office, addressed to William Lakin and Abigail Par- 
ker, both of Groton, as well as to Samuel Manning, 
Townsend ; William Gleany, Dunstable ; and Jonathan 
Lawrence, Littleton. Nearly five months afterward 
letters — and perhaps these identical ones — are adver- 
tised for the same persons in The Boston Weekly News- 
Letter, July 1, 1756, as still uncalled for. The name 
of David Farnum, America, appears also in this list, 
and it is hoped that wherever he was he received the 
missive. The names of Oliver Lack (intended for 
Lakin) and Ebenezer Parker, both of this town, are 
given in another list printed in the Gazette of June 28, 
1762; and in the same issue one is advertised for 



172 GROTON. 

Samuel Starling, America. In the supplement to the 
Gazette, October 10, 1768, Ebenezer Farnsworth, Jr., 
and George Pierce, of Groton, had letters advertised ; 
and in the Gazette October 18, 1773, the names of 
Amos Farnsworth, Jonas Farnsworth and William 
Lawrence, all of this town, appear in the list. In 
the Columbian Centinel (Boston), January 29, 1794, a 
letter is advertised for Benjamin Tarbel, of Groton. 

I find no record of a post-rider passing through 
Groton, during the period immediately preceding the 
establishment of the post-office; but there was doubt- 
less such a person who used to ride on horseback, 
equipped with saddle-bags, and delivered at regular 
intervals the weekly newspapers and letters along the 
way. In the year 1794, according to the History of 
New Ipswich, New Hampshire (page 129), a post- 
rider, by the name of Balch, rode from Boston to 
Keene one week and back the next. Probably he 
passed through this town and served the inhabitants 
with his favors. 

Several years ago I procured, through the kindness 
of General Charles Devens, at that time a member of 
President Hayes's Cabinet, some statistics of the Gro- 
ton post-office, which are contained in the following 
letter : 

" Post-Office Department, Appointment Office, 
" Washington, D. C , September 3, 1877. 
" Hon. Charles Devens, Attorney-General, Department of Justice. 

"Sir, — I have to acknowledge the receipt of a communication from 
Samuel A. Green, of Boston, Massachusetts, with your indorsement 
thereon, requesting to be furnished with a list of postmasters at the 
office of Groton, in that State, from the date of its establishment to the 
present time. 

"In reply, I have the honor to inform you, that the fire which con- 



GROTON. 173 

sumed the department building, on the night of the fifteenth of De- 
cember, 1836, destroyed three of the earliest record-books of this 
office ; but by the aid of the auditor's ledger-books, it is ascertained 
that the office began to render accouuts on the first of January, 1801, 
but the exact day is not known. Samuel Dana was the first postmaster, 
aud the following list furnishes the history of the office, as shown by 
the old records. 

"Groton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Office probably estab- 
lished in November, 1800. Samuel Dana began rendering accounts 
January 1, 1801. Wm. M. Richardson, October 1, 1804. 

"From this time the exact dates are known. 

" Abraham Moore, appointed po-tmaster January 31, 1812. 

Eliphalet Wheeler, August 20, 1815. 
James Lewis, September 9, 1815. 
Caleb Butler, July 1, 1826. 
Henry Woods, January 15, 1839. 
George S. Boutwell, January 22, 1841. 
Caleb Butler, April 15, 1841. 
Welcome Lothrop, December 21, 1846. 
Artemas Wood, February 22, 1849. 
George H. Brown, May 4, 1849. 
Theodore Andruss, April 11, 1853. 
George W. Fiske, April 22, 1861. 
Henry Woodcock, February 13, 1867. 

Miss Hattie E. Farnsworth, June 11, 1869, who is the present in- 
cumbent. 

" Each postmaster held the office up to the appointment of his succes- 
sor, but it is probable that Mr. Boutwell and Mr. A. Wood, although 
regularly appointed, did not accept, judging by the dates of the next 
postmasters. 

" As to the 'income' of the office, to which allusion is made, it is very 
difficult to obtain any of the amounts ; but the first year and the last 
year are herewith appended, as follows : — 

(1801) FISCAL TEAR (1876) 

"First quarter, $1.91 First quarter, $314.15 

Second " 2.13 Second " 296.94 

Third " 2.93 Third " 305.71 

Fourth " 5.29 Fourth " 294.28 



For the year, $12.26 For the year. $1,211. 



174 GROTON. 

"Trusting the foregoing, which is believed to be correct, will be ac- 
ceptable to you, I am, sir, respectfully, 

"Your ob't serv't, 

" James H. Marr, 
" Acting First Ass't P. If. General." 

It will be seen that the net income of the office, 
during the first seventy-five years of its existence, in- 
creased one hundred-fold. 

This letter of the Acting First Assistant Postmas- 
ter-General supplements the account in Butler's " His- 
tory of Groton" (pages 249-251). According to Mr. 
Butler's statement, the post-office was established on 
September 29, 1800, and the Honorable Samuel Dana 
was appointed the first postmaster. No mail, how- 
ever, was delivered at the office until the last week in 
November. For a while it came to Groton by the 
way of Leominster, certainly a very indirect route. 
This fact appears from a letter written to Judge 
Dana, by the Postmaster-General, under the date of 
December 18, 1800, apparently in answer to a request 
to have the mail brought directly from Boston. In 
this communication the writer says: — 

" It appears to me, that the arrangement which has been made for 
carrying the mail to Groton is sufficient for the accommodation of the 
inhabitants, as it gives them the opportunity of receiving their letters 
regularly, and with despatch, once a week. The route from Boston by 
Leominster, to Groton is only twenty miles farther than by the direct 
route, and the delay of half a day, which is occasioned thereby, is not of 
much consequence to the inhabitants of Groton. If it should prove that 
Groton produces as much postage as Lancaster and Leominster, the new 
contract for carrying the mail, which is to be in operation on the first of 
October next, will be made by Concord and Groton to Walpole, and a 
branch from Concord to Marlborough. 

"I am, respectfully, sir, your obedient servant, 

"Jos. Habersham." 

The amount of postage received from the office, 



GROTON. 175 

after deducting the necessary expenses, including the 
postmaster's salary, was, for the first year after its es- 
tablishment, about twelve dollars, or three dollars for 
three months. In the year 1802 it was thirty-six dol- 
lars, or nine dollars for three months, a large propor- 
tional increase. At this time the mail came once a 
week only, and was brought by the stage-coich. 

Samuel Dana, the first postmaster, was a prominent 
lawyer at the time of his appointment. He was the 
son of the Reverend Samuel Dana, of Groton, and 
born in this town June 26, 1767. He occupied a high 
position in the community, and exerted a wide influ- 
ence in the neighborhood. At a later period he was 
president of the Massachusetts Senate, a member of 
Congress, and finally chief justice of the Circuit 
Court of Common Pleas. He died at Charlestown, on 
November 20, 1835. 

Judge Dana kept the post-office in his own office, 
which was in the same building as that of the Honor- 
able Timothy Bigelosv, another noted lawyer. These 
eminent men were on opposite sides of the same en- 
try, and generally on opposite sides of all important 
cases in the northern part of Middlesex County. The 
building stood on the site of Governor Boutwell's 
house, and is still remembered as the medical office of 
the venerable Dr. Amos Bancroft. It was afterward 
moved away, and now stands near the railway-station, 
where it is occupied as a dwelling-house. Judge Dana 
held the position during four years, and he was suc- 
ceeded by William Merchant Richardson, Esq., after- 
ward the chief justice of the Superior Court of New 
Hampshire. Mr. Richardson was a graduate of Har- 



176 GROTON. 

yard College in the class of 1797, and at the time of 
his appointment as postmaster had recently finished 
his professsional studies in Groton, under the guidance 
of Judge Dana. After his admission to the bar Mr. 
Richardson entered into partnership with his former 
instructor, succeeding him as postmaster in July, 
1804 ; and the office was still kept in the same build- 
ing. During Judge Richardson's term the net reve- 
nue to the department rose from nine dollars to about 
twenty-eight dollars for three months. He held the 
position nearly eight years, and was followed by Ab- 
raham Moore, who was appointed on January 31, 
1812. 

Mr. Moore was a native of Bolton, Massachusetts, 
where he was born on January 5, 1785. He gradu- 
ated at Harvard College in the class of 1806, and 
studied law at Groton with the Honorable Timothy 
Bigeiow, and after his admission to the bar settled 
here as a lawyer. His office was on the site of the 
north end of Gerrish's Block, and it was here that the 
post-office was kept. During his administration the 
average income from the office was about thirty-three 
dollars for the quarter. In the summer of 1815 Mr. 
Moore resigned the position and removed to Boston. 

Eliphalet Wheeler, who kept the store lately occu- 
pied by Mr. Gerrish, was appointed in Mr. Moore's 
stead, and the post-office was transferred to his place 
of business. He, however, was not commissioned, 
owing, it is thought, to his political views ; and Major 
James Lewis, who was sound in his politics, received 
the appointment in his stead. Major Lewis retained 
Mr. Wheeler for a short time as his assistant, and 



GROTON. 177 

during this period the duties were performed by him 
in his own store. Shortly afterward Caleb Butler, 
Esq., was appointed the assistant, and he continued 
to hold the position for eight years. During this time 
the business was carried on in Mr. Butler's law-office, 
and the revenue to the government reached the sum 
of fifty dollars a quarter. His office was then in a 
small building, — just south of Mr. Hoar's tavern, — 
which was moved away about the year 1820, and taken 
to the lot where Colonel Needham's house now stands, 
at the fork of Main and Hollis Streets. It was fitted 
up as a dwelling, and subsequently moved away again. 
At this time the old store of Mr. Brazer, who had pre- 
viously died, was brought from over the way, and oc- 
cupied by Mr. Butler, on the site of his former office. 

On July 1, 1826, Mr. Butler, who had been Major 
Lewis' assistant for many years and performed most 
of the duties of the office, was appointed postmaster. 

Mr. Butler was a native of Pelham, New Hamp- 
shire, where he was born on September 13, 1776, and 
a graduate of Dartmouth College in the class of 1800. 
He had been the preceptor of Groton Academy for 
some years, and was widely known as a critical schol- 
ar. He had previously studied law with the Honorable 
Luther Lawrence, of Groton, though his subsequent 
practice was more in drawing up papers and settling 
estates than in attendance at courts. His name is now 
identified with the town as its historian. During his 
term of office as postmaster the revenue rose from 
fifty dollars to one hundred and ten dollars a quarter. 
He held the position nearly thirteen years, to the en- 
tire satisfaction of the public ; but for political her- 
12 



178 GROTOX. 

esy he was removed on January 15, 1839, when Hen- 
ry Woods was appointed his successor. 

Mr. Woods held the office until his death, which 
occurred on January 12, 1841 ; and he was followed 
by the Hon. George S. Boutwell, since the Governor 
of the Commonwealth and a member of the United 
States Senate. During the administration of Mr. 
Woods and Mr. Boutwell the office was kept in the 
brick store, opposite to the present High School. 

Upon the change in the administration of the Na- 
tional Government, Mr. Butler was reinstated in office 
on April 15, 1841. He continued to hold the position 
until December 21, 1846, when he was again removed 
for political reasons. Mr. Butler was a most obliging 
man, and his removal was received by the public 
with general regret. During his two terms he filled 
the office for more than eighteen years, a longer period 
than has fallen to the lot of any other postmaster of 
the town. Near the end of his service a material 
change was made in the rate of postage on letters ; 
and in his History (page 251) he thus comments on it : 

" The experiment of a cheap rate was put upon trial. From May 14, 
1841, to December 31, 1844, the net revenue averaged one hundred and 
twenty-four dollars and seventy-one cents per quarter. Under the new 
law, for the first year and a half, the revenue has been one hundred 
and four dollars and seventy-seven cents per quarter. Had the former 
rates remained, the natural increase of business should have raised it to 
one hundred and fifty dollars per quarter. The department, which for 
some years before had fallen short of supporting itself, now became a 
heavy charge upon the treasury. Whether the present rates will event- 
ually raise a sufficient revenue to meet the expenditures, remains to be 
seen. The greatest difficulty to be overcome is evasion of the post-office 
laws and fraud upon the department." 

Like many other persons of that period, Mr. Butler 



GEOTOX. 179 

did not appreciate the fact that the best way to pre- 
vent evasions of the law is to reduce the rates of post- 
age so low that it will not pay to run the risk of 
fraud. 

Captain Welcome Lothrop succeeded Mr. Butler as 
postmaster, and during his administration the office 
was kept in Liberty Hall. Captain Lothrop was a 
native of Easton, Massachusetts, and a land surveyor 
of some repute in this neighborhood. Artemas Wood 
followed him by appointment on February 22, 1849; 
but he never entered upon the duties of his office. 
He was succeeded by George Henry Brown, who had 
published The Spirit of the Times, a political newspa- 
per, during the Presidential canvass of 1848, and in 
this way had become somewhat prominent as a local 
politician. Mr. Brown was appointed on May 4, 
1849 ; and during his term the office was kept in an 
L of his dwelling, situated nearly opposite to the 
Orthodox meeting-house. He was afterward the 
postmaster of Ayer. Mr. Brown was followed by 
Theodore Andruss, a native of Orford, New Hamp- 
shire, who was appointed on April 11, 1853. Mr. 
Andruss brought the office back to Liberty Hall, and 
continued to be the incumbent until April 22, 1861, 
when he was succeeded by George Washington Fiske. 
On February 13, 1867, Henry Woodcock was ap- 
pointed to the position, and the office was then 
removed to the Town-House, where most excellent 
accommodations were given to the public. He was 
followed on June 11, 1869, by Miss Harriet Elizabeth 
Farnsworth, now Mrs. Marion Z. Putnam ; and she in 
turn was succeeded on July 2, 1880, by Mrs. Christina 



180 GROTON. 

Dakin (Caryl) Fosdick, the widow of Samuel Wood- 
bury Fosdick, and the present incumbent. 

The office is still kept in the Town-House, and 
there is no reason to think that it will be removed 
from the spacious and commodious quarters it now 
occupies, for a long time to come. This public build- 
ing was erected in 1859, and the first town-meeting 
was held within its walls, on Tuesday, November 8th, 
of that year. The High School was first opened in 
the lower hall on Monday, December 5th, and the ex- 
amination of classes for admission took place three 
days previously, on Friday, December 2d. 

A semi-daily mail was established between Boston 
and Groton in the year 1849. during the early part of 
postmaster Brown's administration ; and a tri-daily 
mail on Monday, April 18, 1887. The post-office was 
made a postal-order office on Monday, August 16, 
1886, and raised to the rank of a Presidential office 
on February 15, 1890. 

Few towns in the Commonw r ealth can present such 
an array of distinguished men among their postmas- 
ters as that of Groton, including, as it does, the 
names of Judge Dana, Judge Richardson, Mr. Butler 
and Governor Boutwell. One of Judge Richardson's 
assistants w r as afterwards Postmaster-General of the 
United States. The Honorable Amos Kendall was 
studying law in his office at the time, and subse- 
quently became Postmaster-General under Presidents 
Jackson and Van Buren, 1835-1840. In Mr. Ken- 
dall's " Autobiography " (Boston, 1872), edited by his 
son-in-law, William Stickney, it is said : 

' ' During the residue of the year 1813 Mr. Kendall's studies [at Groton] 



GROTON. 181 

were much interrupted by the business of the office, which devolved on 
him as the oldest student. He had charge of the post-office ; received, 
made up and despatched the mails, delivered the letters and papers and 
made out the accounts. He was frequently sent on business to the 
neighboring towns, and employed in collecting office dues." (Page 78.) 

West Groton is a small settlement that has sprung 
up in the western part of the town, dating back in il s 
history to the last century. It is pleasantly situated 
on the banks of the Squannacook River, and in my 
boyhood was known as Squannacook, a much better 
name than the present one. It is to be regretted that 
so many of the old Indian words which have a local 
significance and smack of the region, should have 
been crowded out of the list of our geographical 
names. There is a small water-power here, and 
formerly a saw-mill, grist-mill and a paper-mill were 
in operation ; but these have now given way to a 
factory where leather-board is made. The Peter- 
borough and Shirley Branch of the Fitchburg Rail- 
road passes through the place, and some local busi- 
ness is transacted in the neighborhood. As a matter 
of course, a post-office was needed in the village, and 
one was established on March 19, 1850. The first 
person to fill the office was Adams Archibald, a native 
of Truro, Nova Scotia, who kept it in the railway 
station. 

The following is a list of the postmasters, with the 
dates of their appointment : 

Adams Archibald, March 19, 1850. 
Edmund Blood, May 25, 1868. 
Charles Henry Hill, July 31, 1871. 
George Henry Bixby, July 11, 1878. 

During the postmastership of Mr. Blood, and since 



182 GROTOX. 

that time, the office has been kept in a store near the 
station, and for a long while the only one in the place. 

A post-office was established at South Groton, on 
June 1, 1849, and the first postmaster was Andrew 
Boynton Gardner. The village was widely known as 
Groton Junction, and resulted from the intersection 
of several railroads. Here six passenger-trains coming 
from different points were due in the same station at 
the same time, and they all were supposed to leave as 
punctually. 

The trains on the Fitchburg Railroad, arriving from 
each direction, and likewise the trains on the Worces- 
ter and Nashua Road from the north and the south, 
passed each other at this place. There was also a 
train from Lowell, on the Stony Brook Railroad, and 
another on the Peterborough and Shirley Branch, 
coming at that time from West Townsend. 

A busy settlement grew up, which was incorporated 
as a distinct town under the name of Ayer, on Feb- 
ruary 14, 1871, so called after the late James Cook 
Ayer, of Lowell. 

The following is a list of the postmasters, with the 
dates of their appointment : 

Andrew Boynton Gardner, June 1, 1849. 
Harvey Alpheus Woods, August 11, 1853. 
George Henry Brown, December 30, 1861. 
William Holmes Harlow, December 5, 1862. 
George Henry Brown, January 15, 1863. 
William Holmes Harlow, July 18, 1865. 

The name of the post-office was changed by the 
Department at Washington, from South Groton to 
Groton Junction, on March 1, 1862 ; and subsequently 
this again was changed to Ayer, on March 22, 1871, 



GROTON. 183 

soon after the incorporation of the town, during the 
postmastership of Mr. Harlow. 

Closely akin to the post-office in its functions is the 
service of the telegraph and the telephone, and for 
that reason I add the following facts : 

The telegraph office was opened in the village of 
Groton on Saturday, March 20, 1880, mainly through 
the exertions of the late Charles Harrison Waters 
and of Francis Marion Boutwell, Esq. ; and the first 
message was sent to Nashua. The office was estab- 
lished in the railway-station, where it has since re- 
mained, and the first operator was Miss Etta Augusta 
Shattuck. 

The telephone office was opened in the village on 
Friday, April 29, 1881, affording communication with 
Boston and other places. 

The Old Taverns and Stage-Coaches of 
Groton. — It has been said that there is nothing 
contrived by man which has produced so much hap- 
piness as a good tavern. Without disputing the 
statement, all will agree that many good times have 
been passed around the cheerful hearth of the old- 
fashioned inn. 

The sites of the earliest taverns of Groton cannot 
easily be identified, but the names of some of the 
landlords are found in the records of the Middlesex 
Court of Quarter Sessions, — now at East Cambridge, 
— when they were licensed as inn-holders. At that 
period no great preparations were made in the small 
towns for the lodging of strangers, beyond (obtaining 
the necessary license, and guests were treated like 
members of the family. Occasionally a farmer would 



184 GROTON. 

keep a tavern for a while, and thus make a market 
for his home products. For a long time Groton was 
a frontier settlement, and all beyond it was a wilder- 
ness. The travel through the place was mainly along 
the circumference of civilization, from one outlying 
town to another, and there was but little patronage 
for public-houses. The following list of early 
landlords and retailers of spirits is taken from the 
Court records, and the entries are made during the 
months of July, August and September in the re- 
spective years : 

1699.— Joseph Cady. 

1700. — Probably no license granted. 

1701.— Joseph Cady. 

17C2. — Probably no license granted. 

1703. — Samuel Parker, Nathan Mors. 

1704.— Samuel Parker. 

1705. — Samuel Parker. 

1706.— Samuel Parker. 

1707.— Samuel Parker. 

1708.— Samuel Parker. 

1709. — Probably no license granted. 

1710.— Samuel Woods. 

1711. — Mr. Samuel Woods. 

1712. — Probably no license granted. 

1713.— Nathaniel Woods. 

1714. — Nathaniel Woods. 

1715.— Nathaniel Woods. 

1716.— Nathaniel Woods. 

1717.— Nathaniel Woods, Eleazer Bobbins, Eleazer Green ; JameB 
Patterson, retailer. 

1718.— Mr. Nathaniel Woods, Mr. Eleazer Robbins, Mr. Eleazer Green. 

1719.— Mr. Eleazer Green, Mr. Nathaniel Woods. 

1720.— Mr. Eleazer Green. 

1721.— Mr. David W T hetcomb, Mr. Eleazer Green, Mr. Jonathan 
Hubbard. 

1722.— Mr. Eleazer Green, Mr. Jonathan Hubbard. 

1723.— Mr. Jonathan Hubbard. 



GROTON. 185 

1724.— Mr. Jonathan Hubbard, Mr. Joseph Spaulding. 
1725.— Mr. William Tarbell. 

1726.— Mr. Jonathan Hubbard, Mr. William Tarbell. 
1727.— Mr. Jonathan Hubbard, Mr. William Tarbell, Mr. Josiah 
Sautell. 
1728.— Mr. Jonathan Hubbard. 
1729.— Mr. Jonathan Hubbard. 

1730.— Mr. Jonathan Hubbard, Mr. Josiah Sartel, Nathaniel Sartel, 
Esq. 
1731.— Nathaniel Sartel, Esq., Mr. Jonathan Hubbard^ 
1732.— Nathaniel Sartel, Esq., Mr. James Parker. 
1733.— Nathaniel Sartel, Esq., Mr. John Bulkley. 
1734.— Nathaniel Sartell, Esq., Mr. John Bulkley, Mr. Benjamin 
Bancroft. 

1735.— Nathaniel Sartell, Esq., Mr. Benjamin Bancroft, Mr. John 
Bulkley. 

1736. — Nathaniel Sartel, Esq., Mr. Benjamin Bancroft, Mr. John 
Bulkley. 
1737.— Mr. Benjamin Bancroft, Mr. John Bulkley. 
1738.— John Bulkley, Captain Samuel Parker, Jonathan Sheple. 
1739.— Captain Samuel Parker, John Bulkley ; Jonathan Sheple, 
Abraham Moores, retailers. 
1740.— John Bulkley, Abraham Moores, William Lawrence, Esq. 
1741.— Samuel Parker, John Bulkley ; William Lawrence, Esq., Abra- 
ham Moores, retailers. 

1742 —Samuel Parker, John Bulkley, Abraham Moores ; William 
Lawrence, Esq., Thomas Tarbell, retailers. 

1743. —Samuel Parker, John Bulkley, Abraham Moores, James Law- 
rence ; William Lawrence, Esq., Thomas Tarbell, retailers. 

1744 —Caleb Trowbridge, Jr., Isaac Farnsworth, Benjamin Bancroft, 
John Bulkley, Samuel Parker. 

1745.— Isaac Green, John Bulkley, Abraham Moores, James Law- 
rence ; William Lawrence, Esq., Benjamin Chase, retailers. 

1746.— Caleb Trowbridge, Jr., Benjamin Bancroft, John Bulkley, 
Samuel Parker, Amos Lawrence. 

1747.— Isaac Greene, John Bulkley, Abraham Moores, James Law- 
rence ; John Sheple, Ezra Farnsworth, retailers. 

1748— Capt. Benjamin Bancroft, Capt. John Bulkley, Abraham 
Moores, Caleb Trowbridge, Jr., Amos Lawrence. 

1749._john Bulkley, Abraham Moores, James Lawrence; Ezra 
Farnsworth, retailer. 

1750.— John Bulkley, Abraham Moores, James Lawrence; Ezra 
Farnsworth, retailer. 



186 GROTON. 

1751.— John Bulkley, Abraham Moores, James Lawrence ; Ezra 
Farnsworth, retailer. 

1752. — John Bulkley, Abraham Moores, James Lawrence, James Col- 
burn, Jr., William White ; Caleb Trowbridge, Jr., retailer. 

1753.— John Bulkley, Abraham Moores, Thomas White, Caleb Trow- 
bridge, Jr. ; Josiah Sartell, retailer. 

1754.— John Bulkley, Abraham Moores, Thomas White, Caleb Trow- 
bridge, Jr. ; Josiah Sartell, John Stevens, Esq., retailers. 

1755.— John Bulkely, Abraham Moores, Samuel Bowers, Thomas 
White ; John Stevens, Esq., Jonathan Sartell, retailers. 

In the Journal of the House of Representatives 
(page 96), December 21, 1752, is a petition of Caleb 
Trowbridge, Jr., of Groton, stating that : 

"He lives upon a publick Road leading from Dunstable to Harvard, 
which is frequented by many Travelers ; that the publick Houses on 
said Boad are fifteen Miles distant from each other; that he has only 
Liberty to Retail, yet is often crowded with People who want necessary 
Refreshment, but who is not allowed to sell it to them ; he therefore 
prays he may now obtain a Licence as an Innholder. 

" Pass'd in Council, viz. In Council, December 21st, 1752. Read and 
Ordered, That the Justices of the General Sessions of the Peace for the 
County of Middlesex, be and they hereby are allowed to grant the Peti- 
tioner a License to be an Innholder, if they see Cause, at their Adjourn- 
ment on Saturday, the 23d Instant, the Time for granting Licences being 
elapsed notwithstanding, provided the Petitioner first obtains the Appro- 
bation of the Select-Men of Groton for that purpose. 

" Sent down for Concurrence. Read and concur'd." 

The Trowbridge tavern cannot now be identified 
with certainty ; but it is highly probable that it was 
the same as the Bowers inn, mentioned in the next 
paragraph. 

The earliest tavern in Groton, of which there is 
any positive record or knowledge, was kept by Samuel 
Bowers, Jr., in the house lately and for a long time 
occupied by the Champney family. Mr. Bowers was 
born in Groton on December 21, 1711, and, according 
to his tombstone, died on " the Sixteenth Day of De- 



GROTON. 187 

cember Anno Domini 1768. Haifa hour after Three 
of the Clock in y e Afternoon, and in the Fifty Eight 
year of his age." He was first licensed in the year 
1755, and was known in the neighborhood as 
"Land'urd Bowers," — the inn-keeper of that period 
being generally addressed by the title of landlord. I 
do not know who succeeded him in his useful and im- 
portant functions. 

The next tavern of which I have any knowledge 
was the one kept by Captain Jonathan Keep, during 
the latter part of the Revolution. In The Inde- 
pendent Chronicle (Boston), February 15, 1781, the 
committee of the General Court tor the sale of con- 
fiscated property in Middlesex County advertise the 
estate of Dr. Joseph Adams, of Townsend, to be sold 
" at Mr. Keeps, innholder at Groton." This tavern 
has now been kept as an inn during more than a 
century. It was originally built for a dwelling-house, 
and, before the Revolution, was occupied by the 
Reverend Samuel Dana ; but since that time it has been 
lengthened in front and otherwise considerably en- 
larged. Captain Keep was followed by the brothers 
Isaiah and Joseph Hall, who were the landlords as 
early as the year 1798. They were succeeded in 1825 
by Joseph Hoar, who had just sold the Emerson 
tavern, at the other end of the village street. Except- 
ing the year 1836, when Moses Gill and his brother- 
in-law, Henry Lewis Lawrence, were the landlords, 
Mr. Hoar kept it until the spring of 1843, when he 
sold out to Thomas Treadwell Farnsworth. It was 
then conducted as a temperance house, at that time 
considered a great innovation on former customs. 



188 GROTOX 

After a short period it was sold to Daniel Hunt, who 
kept it until 1852; and he was followed by James 
Minot Colburn, who had it for two years. It then 
came into the possession of Joseph Nelson Hoar, a 
son of the former landlord, who took it in 1854, and 
in whose family it has since remained. Latterly it 
has been managed by three of his daughters, and was 
known as the Central House. For a long time it was 
the only tavern in the village, and for neatness and 
comfort could not easily be surpassed. Within a few 
months it has been shut up as a public-house, but it 
is hoped only temporarily. The following description 
of the inn was written by the late Mrs. Delano A. 
Goddard, in a letter from Groton to the Worcester 
Daily Spy, July 7, 1876, after giving an account of 
the celebration on the Fourth of July : 

"I cannot leave Groton without one word for its 'Central House,' its 
only tavern ; a long, low building, with a picturesque piazza its whole 
length, covered with a luxuriant woodbine. It is unique, and is kept by 
three sisters [the Misses Hoar], who receive their visitors hospitably and 
serve them themselves ; who, in spite of all their household duties, 
never seem hurried, are always to be found, always courteous, always 
ready. They are admirable representatives of the intelligent, capable, 
attractive New England girls who don't know what shirking is, but who 
take up the life they find waiting for them, and make of it the best 
thing they can." 

In August, 1877, a tavern, known as the Fletcher 
House, was opened at the southerly end of the village 
street. It is situated on the easterly side of the Boston 
Road, near the Colonel Prescott monument, and fifty 
years ago was owned by Dr. Farnsworth. 

In a list of innholders printed near the end of 
Isaiah Thomas's Almanack for 1785, appears the name 
of Richardson, whose tavern stood on the present site 






GROToX. 189 

of the Baptist Church. It was originally the house 
owned and occupied by the Rev. Gershom Hobart, 
which had been considerably enlarged by additions 
on the north and east sides, in order to make, it more 
suitable for its new purposes. Mine host was Captain 
Jephthah Richardson, who died on October 9, 1806. 
His father was Converse Richardson, who had pre- 
viously kept a small inn on the present Elm Street, 
near the corner of Pleasant. It was in this Elm 
Street house that Timothy Bigelow, the rising young 
lawyer, lived when he first came to Groton. Within 
a few years this building has been moved away. Soon 
after the death of Captain Jephthah Richardson the 
tavern was sold to Timothy Spaulding, who carried 
on the business until his death, which occurred on 
February 19, 1808. Spaulding's widow subsequently 
married John Spalter, who was the landlord for a 
short time. About 1812 the house was rented to 
Dearborn Emerson, who had been a driver of a stage- 
coach, as well as the owner of a line. He remained 
in possession of it for a few years. 

During the War of 1812 it was an inn of local re- 
nown ; and a Lieutenant Chase had his headquarters 
here for awhile, when recruiting for the army. He 
raised a company in the neighborhood, which was 
ordered to Sackett's Harbor, near the foot of Lake 
Ontario. The men were put into uniforms as they 
enlisted and drilled daily. They were in the habit 
of marching through the village streets to the music 
of the spirit-stirring drum and the ear-piercing fife; 
and occasionally they were invited into the yard of 
some hospitable citizen, who would treat them to 



190 GROTON. 

" the cups that cheer but not inebriate," when 
taken in moderation. William Kemp was the drum- 
mer, and Wilder Shepley the fifer, both noted musi- 
cians in their day. Sometimes Moses Kemp, a 
brother, would act as fifer. William, who died on 
September 28, 1885, at the advanced age of ninety-six 
years, used to give many reminiscences of that period. 
He was born at Groton on May 8, 1789, and began to 
drum in early boyhood. His first appearance in the 
public service was during the year 1805, as drummer of 
the South Company of Groton, commanded by Luther 
Lawrence, Esq., afterward the mayor of Lowell. 
Among the men enlisted here during that campaign 
were Marquis D. Famsworth, Aaron Lewis, William 
Shepley and John Woodward, of this town ; and 
James Adams and his son, James, Jr., of Pepperell. 

During his boyhood Mr. Kemp knew Major Daniel 
Simpson, the veteran drummer of Boston, whose 
mother was Sarah, daughter of Job and Sarah (Hart- 
well) Shattuck, of Groton. The major was born at 
Harrison, Maine, on September 29, 1790, and died in 
Boston on July 28, 1886. In former years he used to 
spend considerable time at Groton, where many a 
trial of skill between the two drummers has taken 
place. 

It was about the year 1815 that Dearborn Emerson 
left the Kichardson tavern, and moved down the 
street, perhaps thirty rods, where he opened another 
public-house on the present site of Milo H. Shat- 
tuck's store. The old tavern, in the mean time, passed 
into the hands of Daniel Shattuck, who kept it until 
the year before his death, which occurred on April 8, 



GROTON. 191 

1831. The business was then carried on during a 
short time by Samuel Clark Tenny, who has the fol- 
lowing advertisement in The Groton Herald, June 12, 
1830: 

" Old Stand. 
" ^FHE Subscriber would respectfully inform his friends and the public 
generally, that he has taken the Tavern lately occupied by 
Mr. Daniel Shattxtck, in Groton ; and having thoroughly fitted up the 
same for the reception and accommodation of travellers, he natters him- 
gelf he shall obtain a share of their custom. 

" No pains shall be spared to give satisfaction to all those who may be 
disposed to patronize him. 

" Samuel C. Tenny. 
"Groton, June 12, 1830." 

The next landlord was Lemuel Lakin, and after 
him Francis Shattuck, a son of Daniel, for another 
brief period. About the year 1833 it was given up 
entirely as a public-house, and thus passed away an 
old landmark widely known in those times. It stood 
well out on the present road, the front door facing 
down what is now Main Street, the upper end of which 
then had no existence. In approaching the tavern 
from the south, the road went up Hollis Street and 
turned to the left somewhere south of the Burying- 
Ground. The house afterward was cut up and moved 
off, just before the Baptist meeting-house was built. 

Dearborn Emerson married a sister of Daniel 
Brooks, a large owner in the line of stage-coaches 
running through Groton from Boston to the north- 
ward ; and this family connection was of great ser- 
vice to him. Jonas Parker, commonly known as 
" Tecumseh " Parker, was now associated with Emer- 
son in keeping the new hotel. The stage business 
was taken away from the Richardson tavern, and 



192 GROTON. 

transferred to this one. The house was enlarged, 
spacious barns and stables were erected, and better 
accommodations given to man and beast, — on too 
large a scale for profit, it seems, as Parker & Emer- 
son failed shortly afterward. This was in the spring 
of 1819, during which year the tavern was purchased 
by Joseph Hoar, who kept it a little more than six 
years, when he sold it to Amos Alexander. This 
landlord, after a long time, was succeeded in turn by 
Isaac J. Fox, Horace Brown, William Childs, Arte- 
mas Brown, John M. Gilson, Abijah Wright and 
Moses Gill. It was given up as a hotel in 1854, and 
made into a shoe- factory, owned by Messrs. Bigelow 
& Randall ; and finally it was burned on Wednes- 
day evening, December 19, 1855. Mr. Gill had the 
house for seven years, and was the last landlord. He 
then opened a public-house directly opposite to the 
Orthodox Church, and called it The Globe, which he 
kept for two years. He was succeeded by Stephen 
Woods, who remained only one year, after which 
time this also w T as given up as a public-house. 

The following advertisement in The Groton Herald, 
March 13, 1830, shows that the selectmen of the town 
at that time, wishing to be impartial in distributing 
their official patronage, used to meet equally at all 
the taverns in the village for the transaction of public 
business: 

"Stated Meetings of the Selectmen. 

" rpHE Selectmen of Groton will meet on the last Saturdays of each 
month the present municipal year, at 3 o'clock, p. m., viz. .—At 
Hoar's Tavern in March, April, May and June; at Alexander's in Julj, 
August, September and October ; and at ShattttcFs in November, Decem- 
ber, January and February. 

"Caleb Butler, Chairman." 



GROTON. 193 

Another hostelry was the Ridge Hill tavern, situated 
at the Ridges, three miles from the village, on the 
Great Road to Boston. This was^built about the year 
1805, and much frequented by travelers and team- 
sters. At this point the roads diverge and come 
together again in Lexington, making two routes to 
Boston. It was claimed by interested persons that 
one was considerably shorter than the other, — though 
the actual difference was less than a mile. In the 
year 1824 a guide-board was set up at the crotch of 
the roads, proclaiming the fact that the distance to 
Lexington through Concord was two miles longer 
than through Carlisle. Straightway the storekeepers 
and innholders along the Concord road published a 
counter-statement, that it had been measured by 
sworn surveyors, and the distance found to be only 
two hundred and thirty-six rods farther than by the 
other way. 

The first landlord of the Ridge Hill tavern was 
Levi Parker, noted for his hearty hospitality. He 
was afterward deputy-sheriff of Middlesex County, 
and lived at Westford. He was followed, for a short 
time, by John Stevens, and then by John Hancock 
Loring, who conducted the house during many years, 
and was succeeded by his son Jefferson. After him 
came Henry Lewis Lawrence, who kept it during one 
year; he was followed by his brother-in-law, Moses 
Gill, who took the tavern in April, 1837, and kept it 
just five years. When Mr. Gill gave up the house, 
he was followed by one Langdon for a short time, 
and he in turn by Kimball Farr as the landlord, who 
had bought it the year previously, and who remained 
13 



194 GROTON. 

in charge until 1868. During a part of the time 
when the place was managed by Mr. Farr, his son 
Augustus was associated with him. Mr. Farr sold 
the tavern to John Fuzzard, a native of Brighton, 
England, who kept it as the landlord for a while, and 
is still the owner of the property. He was followed 
by Newell M. Jewett, and he in turn by Stephen 
Perkins, a native of York, Maine, who took it in 
1880. The building had been vacant for some years 
before that time. It was given up by Mr. Perkins in 
the spring of 1884, when it ceased to be a public- 
house, and was occupied again by Mr. Fuzzard as his 
dwelling. A fair used to be held here on the first 
Tuesday of every month for the sale of horses, and 
buyers Avere attracted from a long distance. At one 
time this property was owned by Judge Samuel 
Dana, who sold it to John H. Loring. 

As early as the year 1798 there was a tavern about 
a mile from the Ridges, toward Groton. It was kept 
by Stephen Farrar, in the house now standing near 
where the brook crosses the Great Road. Afterward 
one Green was the landlord. The house known 
as the " Levi Tufts place," in the same neighborhood, 
was an inn during the early part of this century, con- 
ducted by Tilly Buttrick. Also about this time, or 
previously, the house situated south of Indian Hill, 
and occupied by Charles Prescott, — when the map in 
Mr. Butler's History was made, — was an inn. There 
was a tavern kept from about the year 1812 to 1818 
by a Mr. Page, in Mr. Gerrish's house, — near the 
Unitarian Church in the village, — which was built 
by Martin Jennison, about 1803. Last spring the 



GKOTON. 195 

same dwelling was newly furnished and opened as 
a boarding-house for transient or permanent guests, 
according to an advertisement in The Groton Land- 
mark, May 3, 1890. There was also a tavern, near 
the present paper-mills of Tileston and Hollings- 
worth, kept for many years (1820-45) by Aaron 
Lewis, and after him for a short time by A. M. 
Veazie. It was originally the house of John Capell, 
who owoed the saw-mill and grist-mill in the imme- 
diate neighborhood. Amos Adams had an inn near 
Squannacook, a hundred years ago, in a house now 
owned by James Kemp. 

Forty years ago an attempt was made to organize 
a company for the purpose of carrying on a hotel in 
the village, and a charter was obtained from the 
Legislature. The stock, however, was not wholly 
taken up, and the project fell through. Of the cor- 
parators, Mr. Potter was the last survivor, and he 
died in Cincinnati, on December 2, 1884. Below is 
a copy of the act : — 

" An Act to incorporate the Groton Hotel Company. 
" BE it enacted by\ the Senate and House of Representatives, in General 
Court assembled, and by the authority of (lie same, as follows: 
" Sect. 1. Luther F. Potter, Nathaniel P. Smith, Simeon Ames, their 
associates and successors, are hereby made a corporation, by the name 
of the Groton Hotel Company, for the purpose of erecting, in the town 
of Groton, buildings necessary and convenient for a public house, with 
all the powers and privileges, and subject to all the liabilities, duties and 
restrictions, set forth in the forty-fourth chapter of the Revised Statutes. 
"Sect. 2. Said corporation may hold such real and personal property, 
as may be necessary and convenient for the purposes aforesaid, not ex- 
ceeding in amount twenty thousand dollars : provided, that no shares in 
the capital stock of said corporation shall be issued for a less sum or 
amount, to be actually paid in on each, than the par value of the shares 
which shall be first issued. And if any ardent spirits, or intoxicating 



196 GROTON. 

drinks of any kind whatever, shall be sold by said company, or by their 
agents, lessees, or persons in their employ, contrary to law, in any of 
said buildings, then this act shall be void." [Approved by the Governor, 
May 2, 1850.] 

In the spring of 1852 a charter was given to Benja- 
min Webb, Daniel D. K. Bowker, and their associates, 
for the purpose of forming a corporation to carry on 
a hotel at the Massapoag Springs, in the eastern part 
of this town ; but the project fell through. It was to 
be called the Massapoag Spring Hotel, and its capital 
stock was limited to $30,000. The act was approved 
by the Governor on May 18, 1852 ; and it contained 
similar conditions to those mentioned above in regard 
to the sale of liquors. In the spring of 1859 an act 
was passed by the Legislature, and approved by the 
Governor on April 1st, incorporating Abel Prescott, 
Harvey A. Woods, Levi W. Woods, Stephen Eoberts, 
and Levi W. Phelps, their associates and successors, 
under the name of the Groton Junction Hotel Com- 
pany, for the purpose of erecting a hotel at Groton 
Junction, now known as Ayer. The capital of the 
company was limited to $15,000, but the stock was 
never taken. These enterprises are now nearly forgot- 
ten, though the mention of them may revive the recol- 
lections of elderly people. 

The Grotox Stage-Coaches. — During the first 
half of the present century Groton had one charac- 
teristic mark, closely connected with the old taverns, 
which it no longer possesses. It was a radiating 
centre for different lines of stage-coaches, until this 
mode of travel was superseded by the swifter one of 
the railroad. Wayfarers from the surrounding towns 
off the line of travel came hither daily in private 



GROTON. 197 

vehicles to engage their seats and take their passage. 
During many years the stage-coaches were a distinct- 
ive feature of the place ; and their coming and going 
were watched with great interest, and created the ex- 
citement of the day. In early times the drivers, as 
they approached the village, would blow a bugle in 
order to give notice of their arrival ; and this blast 
was the signal at the taverns to put the food on the 
table. More than a generation has now passed away 
since these coaches were wont to be seen in the vil- 
lage streets. They were drawn usually by four hofses, 
and in bad going by six. Here a change of coaches, 
horses and drivers was made. 

The stage-driver of former times belonged to a 
class of men that has now disappeared from the com- 
munity. His position was one of considerable respon- 
sibility. This important personage was well known 
along the route, and his opinions were always quoted 
with respect. I easily recall the familiar face of Aaron 
Corey, who drove the accommodation stage to Boston 
for so many years. He was a careful and skillful 
driver, and a man of most obliging disposition. He 
would go out of his way to bear a message or leave a 
newspaper ; but his specialty was to look after women 
and children committed to his charge. He carried 
also packages and parcels, and largely what to-day is 
intrusted to the express. I recall, too, with pleasure 
Horace George, another driver, popular with all the 
boys, because in sleighing time he would let us ride 
on the rack behind, and even slacken the speed of his 
horses so as to allow us to catch hold of the straps. 
In youthful dialect, the practice was called "ketchiner 
on behind." 



198 GROTON. 

Some people now remember the scenes of life and 
activity that used to be witnessed in the town on the 
arrival and departure of the stages. Some remem- 
ber, too, the loud snap of the whip which gave in- 
creased speed to the horses, as they dashed up in ap- 
proved style to the stopping-place, where the 
loungers were collected to see the travelers, and listen 
to the gossip which fell from their lips. There were 
no telegraphs then, and but few railroads in the coun- 
try. The papers did not gather the news so eagerly 
nor spread it abroad as promptly as they do now ; 
and items of intelligence were carried largely by 
word of mouth. 

The earliest line of stage-coaches between Boston 
and Groton was the one mentioned in the Colum- 
bian Centinel, April 6, 1793. The advertisement is 
headed " New Line of Stages," and gives notice 
that — 

" A Stage-Carriage drives from Bobbins' Tavern, at Charles-River 
Bridge, on Monday and Friday, in each week, and passing through 
Concord and Groton, arrives at Wyman's tavern in Ashley [Ashby] in the 
evenings of the same days ; and after exchanging passengers there 
with the Stage Carriage from Walpole, it returns on Tuesdays and Sat- 
urdays, by the same route to Robbing's. 

The Gharlestown Carriage drives also from Bobbins' on "Wednesday in 
each week, and passing through Concord arrives at Richardson's tavern, 
in Groton, on the evening of the same day, and from thence returns on 
Thursday to Bobbins'. 

"Another Carriage drives from Richardson's tavern in Groton, on Mon- 
day in each week, at six o'clock in the morning, and passing by Richard- 
son's tavern in Concord, at ten o'clock in the forenoon, arrives at Charles- 
town at three o'clock in the afternoon. From Charlestown it drives on 
Tuesday and Thursday in each week, at three o'clock in tbe«afternoon 
and returns back as far as Richardson's tavern in Concord — and from 
that place it starts at 8 o'clock in the mornings, of Wednesday and 



GROTON. 199 

Friday, and runs again to Charlestown. From there it moves at six 
o'clock on Saturday morning, and returns to Richardson's tavern in 
Grotou, in the evening of the same day." 

It was probably one of these " Carriages" to which 
allusion is made in Mr. Winthrop's " Memoir of the 
Honorable Nathan Appleton," as follows : 

" At early dusk on some October or November evening, in the year 
1794, a fresh, vigorous, bright-eyed lad, just turned of fifteen, might 
have been seen alighting from a stage-coach near Quaker Lane, 1 as 
it was then called, in the old town of Boston. He had been two days 
on the road from his home in the town of New Ipswich, in the State 
of New Hampshire. On the last of the two days, the stage-coach 
had brought him all the way from Groton in Massachusetts ; starting 
for that purpose early in the morning, stopping at Concord for the 
passengers to dine, trundling them through Charlestown about the 
time the evening lamps were lighted, and finishing the whole distance 
of rather more than thirty miles in season for supper. For his first 
day's journey, there had been no such eligible and expeditious con- 
veyance. The Boston stage-coach, in those days, went no farther than 
Groton in that direction. His father's farm-horse, or perhaps that of 
one of the neighbors, had served his turn for the first six or seven miles ; 
his little brother of ten years old having followed him as far as Town- 
send, to ride the horse home again. But from there he had trudged 
along to Groton on foot, with a bundle-handkerchief in his hand, which 
contained all the wearing apparel he had, except what was on his back." 
— Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, v. 249, 250. 

It has been said that the first public conveyance 
between Boston and Groton was a covered wagon, 
hung on chains for thoroughbraces ; but this was 
probably subsequent to the time of the advertisement. 
It was owned and driven by Lemuel Lakin, but after 
a few years the owner sold out to Dearborn Emer- 
son. 

The following advertisement from the Columbian 



Now Congress Street. 



200 GROTON. 

Centinel, June 25, 1800, will give a notion of what an 
undertaking a trip to Boston was at the beginning of 
the century : 

" GROTON STAGE. 

" The subscriber respectfully informs the public that he drives the 
Stage from Boston to Groton, running through Lexington, Concord, and 
Littleton, to Groton : Starts from Boston every Wednesday morning, at 5 
o'clock, and arrives at Groton the same day ; Starts from Groton every 
Monday morning, at 7 o'clock, and arrives at Boston the same day at 4 
o'clock. Passage through, 2 dols. per mile, id. 

" Danborn Emerson. 

"Seats taken at Mr. Silas Dutton's in Royal Exchange Lane. News- 
papers supplied on the road, and every attention paid to conveyances." 

The given-name of Emerson was Dearborn, and 
not "Danborn," which is a misprint. Two years 
later he was running a stage-coach from Groton to 
New Ipswich, New Hampshire ; and on the first re- 
turn trip he brought three passengers, — according to 
the " History of New Ipswich " (page 129). Emerson 
was a noted driver in his day; and he is mentioned 
with pleasant recollections by the Honorable Abbott 
Lawrence, in an after-dinner speech at the Jubilee of 
Lawrence Academy, on July 12, 1854, as appears 
from the published account of the celebration. Sub- 
sequently he was the landlord of one of the local 
taverns. 

It is advertised in The Massachusetts Register, for 
the year 1802, that the— 

" GROTON Stage sets off from J. and S. Wheelock's [Indian Queen 
Inn], No. 37, Marlboro'-Street [now a part of Washington Street, Bos- 
ton], every Wednesday at 4 o'clock in the morning, and arrives at Gro- 
ton at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, same day; leaves Groton every 
Monday at 4 o'clock in the morning, and arrives in Boston at 6 o'clock 
in the afternoon, same day." (Pages 19, 20.) 



GROTON. 201 

It seems from this notice that it took three hours 
longer to make the trip down to Boston than up to 
Groton, — of which the explanation is not clear. In 
the Register for 1803, a semi-weekly line is advertised, 
and the same length of time is given for making the 
trip each way as is mentioned in the Register of the 
preceding year. 

About the year 1807 there was a tri-weekly line of 
coaches to Boston, and as early as 1820 a daily line, 
which connected at Groton with others extending 
into New Hampshire and Vermont. Soon after this 
time there were two lines to Boston, running in op- 
position to each other, — one known as the Union and 
Accommodation Line, and the other as the Telegraph 
and Despatch. 

One of the drivers for the Telegraph and Despatch 
Line was Phineas Harrington, popularly known along 
the road as "Phin" Harrington. He had orders to 
take but eight passengers in his coach, and the trip 
was made with remarkable speed for that period. 
" Phin " was a man of small size; and the story used 
to be told of him that, on cold and stormy nights, he 
would get inside of one of the lamps fixed to the box, 
in order to warm his feet by the lighted wick ! He 
passed almost his whole life as a stage-man, and it is 
said that he drove for nearly forty years. He could 
handle the reins of six horses with more skill than 
any other driver in town. Mr. Harrington died at 
Dracut, on May 23, 1870, aged eighty years, two 
months and nine days. 

William Shepard & Co. advertise in The Groton 
Herald, April 10, 1830, their accommodation stage. 



202 GROTON. 

"Good Teams and Coaches with careful and obliging 
drivers will be provided by the subscribers." Books 
were kept in Boston at A. M. Brigham's, No. 42 Han- 
over Street, and in Groton at the taverns of Arnos 
Alexander and Joseph Hoar. The fare was one dol- 
lar, and the coach went three times a week. 

About this time George Flint had a line to Nashua, 
and John Holt another to Fitchburg. They adver- 
tise together in the Herald, May 1, 1830, that " no 
pains shall be spared to accommodate those who shall 
favor them with their custom, and all business in- 
trusted to their care will be faithfully attended to." 
The first stage-coach from this town to Lowell began 
to run about the year 1829, and John Austin was the 
driver. An opposition line was established soon after- 
ward, and kept up during a short time, until a com- 
promise was made between the two lines. Later, 
John Russ was the owner and driver of the line to 
Lowell, and still later, John M. Maynard the owner. 
Near this period there was a coach running to Wor- 
cester, and previously one to Amherst, New Hamp- 
shire. 

Fifty years ago General Thomas Adams Staples was 
a well-known stage proprietor. He was a man of 
large frame and fine proportions, and is still remem- 
bered by many residents of the town. He was born 
in Boston on July 20, 1804, and died at Machias, 
Maine, on November 13, 1880. 

The following is a list of some of the old drivers, 
who were well-known along their respective routes. 
It is arranged in no particular order and is by no 
means complete ; and the dates against a few of the 



GROTON. 203 

names are only approximations to the time when each 
one sat on the box. 

Lemuel Lakin was among the earliest ; and he was 
followed by Dearborn Emerson. Daniel Brooks drove 
to Boston during the period of the last war with Eng- 
land, and probably later. 

Aaron Corey drove the accommodation stage to 
Boston, through Carlisle, Bedford and Lexington, for 
a long time, and he had previously driven the mail- 
coach. He was succeeded by his son, Calvin, the 
driver for a few years, until the line was given up in 
1850. Mr. Corey, the father, was one of the veter- 
ans, having held the reins during thirty-two years ; 
he died March 15, 1857, at the age of seventy-three. 

Isaac Bullard (1817-30), William Smart (1825-30), 
George Hunt, Jonathan Buttrick, Obadiah Kendall, 
Albert Hay den, Charles Briggs, Levi Robbins, James 
Lord, Frank Brown, Silas Burgess, Augustus Adams, 
William Dana, Horace Brown, Levi Wheeler, Tim- 
othy Underwood, Bacon, Horace George (1838- 

45), Leonard Williams Cushing (1842-45) and Joseph 
Stewart, — these drove to Boston. After the stages 
were taken off, " Joe " Stewart was the driver of the 
passenger-coach from the village to the station on the 
Fitchburg Railroad, which ran to connect with the 
three daily trains for Boston. The station was three 
miles away, and now within the limits of Ayer. 

Among the drivers to Keene, New Hampshire, 
were Kimball Danforth (1817-40), Ira Brown, Oliver 
Scales, Amos Nicholas, Otis Bardwell, Abel Marshall, 
the brothers Ira and Hiram Hodgkins, George Brown, 
Houghton Lawrence, Palmer Thomas, Ira Green, 



204 GROTON. 

Barney Pike, William Johnsc-D, Walter Carleton 
and John Carleton. There were two stage routes to 
Keene, both going as far as West Townsend in com- 
mon, and then separating, one passing through New 
Ipswich and Jaffrey, a northerly route, while the 
other went through Ashby, Kindge and Fitzwilliam, 
a southerly one. 

Anson Johnson and Beriah Curtis drove to Wor- 
cester ; Addison Parker, Henry Lewis Lawrence, 
Stephen Corbin, John Webber, and his son Ward, 
drove to Lowell ; the brothers Abiel and Nathan 
Fawcett, Wilder Proctor and Abel Hamilton Fuller, 
to Nashua. 

Micah Ball, who came from Leominster about the 
year 1824, drove to Amherst, New Hampshire, and 
after him Benjamin Lewis, who continued to drive as 
long as he lived, and at his death the line was given 
up. The route lay through Pepperell, Hollis and 
Milford. 

The forerunner of this Amherst stage was a one- 
horse vehicle, which used to go over the road each 
way two or three times a week, and carry the mail. 
It began to run about the year 1820, and took pas- 
sengers as occasion required. 

Other reins-men were John Chase, Joel Shattuck, 
William Shattuck, Moses Titus, Frank Shattuck, 

David Coburn, Chickering, Thomas Emory and 

William Kemp, Jr. - 

The sad recollection of an accident at Littleton, re- 
sulting in the death of Silas Bullard, is occasionally 
revived by some of the older people. It occurred on 
February 3, 1835, and was caused by the upsetting of 



GROTOX. 205 

the Groton coach, driven by Samuel Stone, and at the 
time just descending the hill between Littleton Com- 
mon and Nagog Pond, then known as Kimball's Hill. 
Mr. Bullard was one of the owners of the line, and a 
brother of Isaac, the veteran driver. The Colum- 
bian Centinel, February 5, 1835, contains the fol- 
lowing account of the affair: 

"From Briggs's News Room Bulletin." 

" On Tuesday afternoon [February 3], as the Groton and Keene mail- 
stage was returning to this city, in a narrow pass of the road in Little- 
ton, one of the fore wheels of the stage came in contact with the hind 
wheel of a wagon, which suddenly overturned the stage. — There were 
eleven passengers in the vehicle at the time, who, with the exception of 
Mr. Silas Bullard, of this city, and Mr. Washington Shepley, of Groton, 
escaped uninjured. Mr. Bullard was seated with the driver at the time 
of the accident, and was thrown, with great violence, to the ground, the 
stage falling immediately upon him. His collar-bone and two of his 
ribs were broken, shoulder blade dislocated, and otherwise injured. He 
was conveyed to a private dwelling, where he has the best medical aid, 
but his recovery is very doubtful. Mr. Shepley's injuries were of an in- 
ternal nature, but not such as to prevent his immediate return to Gro- 
ton. A passenger states that no blame can be attached to the driver/' 

Mr. Bullard died on February 5th, and the Centinel 
of the next day pays a worthy tribute to his char- 
acter. 

Besides the stage-coaches, the carrier-wagons added 
to the business of Groton, and helped largely to sup- 
port the taverns. The town was situated on one of 
the main thoroughfares leading from Boston to the 
northern country, comprising an important part of 
New Hampshire and Vermont, and extending into 
Canada. This road was traversed by a great number 
of wagons, drawn by four or six horses, carrying to 
the city the various products of the country, such as 



206 GROTON. 

grain, pork, butter, cheese, eggs, venison, hides; and 
returning with goods found in the city, such as mo- 
lasses,, sugar, New England rum, coffee, tea, nails, 
iron, cloths, and the innumerable articles found in 
the country stores, to be distributed among the towns 
above here. In some seasons it was no uncommon 
sight to see forty such wagons passing through the 
village in one day. 

In addition to these were many smaller vehicles, 
drawn by one or two horses, to say nothing of the 
private carriages of individuals who were traveling 
for business or pleasure. 

The Groton Fire Department. — The first fire- 
engine in Groton was made in the year 1802, by Lo- 
ammi Baldwin, Jr., then a law-student in the office 
of the Honorable Timothy Bigelow, but who after- 
ward became a civil engineer. He was a son o£ 
Loammi and Mary (Fowle) Baldwin, and born at 
Woburn on May 16, 1780 ; and after his graduation 
at Harvard College, in the class of 1800, he came to 
Groton in order to study the profession of law. Like 
many others he does not seem to have found out at the 
start his proper calling, as his tastes were naturally 
for mechanical science and the kindred arts. While 
following his studies here, a house, situated just south 
of the academy grounds, was burned down in the 
winter-time and there was no fire-engine to stop it. 
The neighbors had to fight the flames as best they 
could, with snow as well as water. By this incident 
he became so impressed with the need of an engine in 
Groton, that with his own hands he constructed the 
first one the town ever had. This identical machine, 



GROTON. 207 

known for a long time as Torrent, No. 1, is still ser- 
viceable after a use of more than eighty-eight years, 
and will throw a stream of water over the highest roof 
in the town. It was made in Jonathan Loring's shop, 
then opposite to Mr. Boynton's blacksmith-shop, 
where the ironwork was done. The tub is of copper, 
and bears the date " 1802." Mr. Baldwin, soon after 
this time, gave up the practice of law, and became 
distinguished in his new profession. 

The following description of the engine is found in 
The Firemen's Standard (Boston) for April, 1884: 

" The old ' machine ' has a quaint appearance with its copper tub on 
which is inscribed its name, Torrent, No. 1, and its ancient tool box 
which bears the date of its birth, 1802. The said tub is three feet six 
inches long, two feet two inches wide, and twenty-two inches deep. On its 
bottom rests an oak plank in which are set the valves and in which 
stand the brass cylinders and air chamber, the former of which being 
each five inches in diameter and sixteen inches high. A gooseneck on 
the top of the air chamber serves as the outlet for the water and a reel is 
attached to the hind part of the tub capable of carrying one hundred 
ieet of two-inch hose, the first supply of which was made at the harness 
shop and sewed with waxed thread" (page i). 

Among the active members of Torrent Company, 
nearly fifty years ago, was Elijah Tracy, a deaf-mute, 
who attended the stated meetings, and turned out at 
the fires, with as much regularity as his more favored 
comrades. 

At two different times within sixteen years, Torrent, 
No. 1, has done most excellent service in putting out 
fires, and it is the testimony of all acquainted with 
the facts, that on each of these occasions it prevented 
a serious conflagration. Notably this was so at a fire 
which took place early on Sunday morning, October 
26, 1884, when a dwelling-house, owned by Andrew 



208 GROTON. 

Robbins, was burned down. At this time Mr. Dix's 
buildings, in very close proximity, were in great 
danger, but they were saved through the efforts of the 
Fire Department and the use of the old engine, which 
was worked to good advantage in narrow quarters, 
where the other engine could not be taken. The 
other occasion was when Walter Shattuck's store was 
burned down on November 17, 1874 ; and largely by 
means of this engine the Congregational meeting- 
house was saved from destruction. 

Torrent, No. 1, until recently, was housed at the 
end of a row of horse-sheds, near the First Parish 
meeting-house, but in the year 1885 it was transferred 
to West Groton, for the protection of that part of the 
town. It was there placed in the charge of a volun- 
teer company of young men ; and on April 5, 1886, 
the town voted to authorize the Board of Engineers 
to form a permanent company in that village, which 
was accordingly done, with the volunteer association 
as a nucleus. The engine has been re-named, and 
is now known as the Squannacook. An engine-house, 
next to the new church on Groton Street, has been 
built, which was formally opened with appropriate 
ceremonies, on the evening of December 30, 1887. In 
the upper story is a hall for public meetings, where, 
on January 6, 1888, the company gave a ball. A 
pamphlet was printed (Ayer, 1887, 12uio, pp. 8), enti- 
tled "Constitution and By-Laws of Squannacook En- 
gine Co., No. 2, West Groton, Mass.," which sets forth 
the rules of their government. 

The Union Engine Company was organized in the 
spring of 1830, and the immediate occasion of its for- 



GROTON. 209 

mation was the series of incendiary fires that occurred 
during the year 1829. Presumably the name of the 
engine company was taken from the Union Congre- 
gational Church in the immediate neighborhood ; and 
the engine was housed at the easterly end of the 
horse-sheds, situated on the northerly side of the 
meeting-house. 

The following notice in the Groton Herald, May 
8, 1830, is addressed to the subscribers for the engine ; 

"TAKE NOTICE. 

" r I THE Subscribers to the New Engine are hereby requested to meet 
-*- at Alexander's Hotel, MONDAY the 10th inst., at 6 oclock, 
P.M. to hear the report of their Committee, chosen for the purpose of 
purchasing an Engine, and to transact any other business which they 
may think expedient. 



Elijah Whiton, ) _ 

T. A. STAPLES. }<*"»''•*"• 



Groton, May 8, 1830. 



A Board of Engineers of the Fire Department was 
originally appointed in April, 1875, by the selectmen, 
in accordance with Chapter 35 of the Public Stat- 
utes. Their first report was made in the spring of 
1876, and printed in the Town Report of that year. 
A new engine, known as the Lawrence, was bought 
in August, 1875, and is kept in the town-house. The 
following is a list of the chief engineers, with the dates 
of their several appointments, which are made by 
the selectmen : 

April 10, 1875, George Sumner Graves. 
April 22, 1876, Charles Blood. 
April 24, 1877, Charles Blood. 
April 22, 1878, Charles Blood. 
April 23, 1879, Charles Blood. 
April 17, 1880, Charles Blood. 
April 20, 1881, John Gilson. 

14 



210 GROTON. 

April 21, 1882, John Gilson. 
March 20, 1883, John Gilson. 
March 29, 1884, George Sumner Graves. 
March 18, 1885, George Sumner Graves. 
March 15, 1886, Charles Woolley. 
March 26, 1887, Charles Woolley. 
April 2, 1888, Charles Woolley. 
April 1, 1889, Charles Woolley. 
April 1, 1890, Charles Woolley. 

Groton Fire Club. — The Groton Fire Club was form- 
ed during the winter of 1815 ; and the immediate oc- 
casion of its organization was the burning of John 
Wethered's dwelling on Wednesday evening, Febru- 
ary 1, 1815. This house stood at the lower end of 
Main Street, and some years previously had been 
owned and occupied by Dr. Oliver Prescott, Senior. 
Mr. Wethered was from AVilmington, Delaware, and 
came to Groton from that State. According to tradi- 
tion the dwelling was set on fire by a negro in his em- 
ploy, who had been a slave at the South. 

On November 7, 1814, Mr. Wethered bought the 
place of Dr. Oliver Prescott, Jr. ; and three months 
later the house was burned, as has been stated. On 
April 29, 1816, Mr. Wethered sold it to Robert C. 
Ludlow, of Boston, a purser in the United States 
Navy, who, at this time, in connection with Commo- 
dore Bainbridge and Charles W. Green, was interest- 
ed in the ownership of the Lakiu farm, where they 
were then raising sheep. On September 25, 1817, 
Purser Ludlow sold it to Joshua Nash, who ten years 
later became the father-in-law of the late Bradford 
Russell, Esq., of Groton. 

The present house on the same site was built about 
the year 1826 by Miss Susan Prescott, afterward Mrs. 



GROTON. 211 

John Wright, for the accommodation of her school 
for girls, a famous institution more than sixty years 
ago. After Mrs. Wright's occupation of the place, it 
passed into the hands of Dr. Amos Farnsworth, and 
since that time there have been several owners. The 
house is now kept as a tavern. 

The first meeting of the Fire Club was held on 
February 4, 1815, when the Honorable James Pres- 
cott was chosen president of the association, and Ca- 
leb Butler, Esq., secretary. The club used to meet 
annually, for the choice of officers, at one of the pub- 
lic-houses in the village, when a supper was served ; 
and sometimes on such occasions members of one of 
the engine companies would be invited to join in the 
festivities. Each member of the Fire Club was re- 
quired to provide two leather buckets and a fire-bag, 
which were to be always ready for use ; and a failure 
to take them to a fire was met with a fine. Among 
some of the descendants of the early members 
these articles are now treasured as heirlooms. 

On March 1, 1875, the town voted to adopt Chapter 
XXIV., Sections 23-31, of the General Statutes of the 
Commonwealth, by which action the need of a pri- 
vate organization was largely superseded. The last 
meeting of the Fire Club, according to the records, 
was held in November, 1872, no day of the month 
given. The following preamble, with a list of the 
original members, is taken from the first two pages of 
the record-book : 

" The undersigned, Inhabitants of Groton warned by the recent confla- 
gration in this village * and feeling one common interest and duty to be 

i The dwelling-house of Mr. John Wethered was entirely consumed 
by fire on the evening of the 1st day of February, a.d. 1815. 



212 



GROTON. 



constantly in readiness to act with promptitude and effect on such dis- 
tressing emergencies, agree to form and procure immediately to organize 
a society for that purpose, to be called, ' Groton Fire Club,' and do 
pledge ourselves to comply with and conform to all such rules and regu- 
lations, as the Society may at any time adopt to promote that end. 
" Dated the fourth day of February, A.D. 1815. 



James Prescott 

Sam 1 Lawrance 

James Lewis 

Abr. Moore 

Walter Dickson 

Alpheus Richardson 

David Fletcher 

Benjamin Moors 

Thomas T. Cunningham 

John Rcckwood 

William Farnsworth 

James Ridgeway 

Wm Liver more 

George Brigham 

Daniel Eaton 

Joseph F. Hall 

Josiah Billings 

Thos. C. Gardner in behalf 
of my father [Major 
Thomas Gardner.] 

Levi Wait 

Aaron Bancroft 

Samson Woods 



Luther Lawrence 
James Brazer 
Amos Farnsworth 
W m Bancroft 
Caleb Butler 
Amos Lawrence 
Aaron Lewis 
Joseph Mansfield 
Asa Tarbell 
Aaron Lewis 2 d 
Asa Graves 
Abel Farnsworth 
Ezra Farnsworth 
Jona Loring 
Asa Lawrence, Jr. 
Luther Woods 
John Stebbens 
Sami Dana 
Wm Childs 
Sam 1 Farnsworth 
Eliphal* Wheeler 
Stuart J. Park " 



On May 6, 1872, the town voted to build five reser- 
voirs, which should hold 4000 gallons each. They were 
to be so situated as to give protection to the greatest 
number of houses in the village, with due regard 
to a sufficient supply of water. The reservoirs were 
placed, respectively, near the three meeting-houses, 
the Town-House, and the High School ; and they are 
kept full by the water which runs from the roofs of 
these several buildings. After that vote, a few years 
later, another reservoir was placed in Court Street. 



GROTON. 213 

Starch-Factory, Paper-Mills, Etc.— In the 
spring of 1832 the following act was passed by the 
General Court of Massachusetts; and under the au- 
thority of the enactment a company was organized at 
Groton for the manufacture of starch. 

A mill was built for the purpose on the Groton side 
of the Squannacook River, three-quarters of a mile 
above the village of West Groton, but the undertak- 
ing did not prove to be a success. It stood on the 
site of the present paper-mill in that locality; and the 
place is shown on Mr. Butler's Map of Groton. It 
was expected that this new industry in the town would 
help the farmers of the neighborhood by encouraging 
the cultivation of potatoes, which were to be used in 
making the article ; but the scheme was a failure. 

"Chap. CXXVII. 
" An Act to incorporate the Dana Manufacturing Company." 

" Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in 
General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That Oliver 
Sheple, Samuel Dana, Samuel Dana, Jr., Oliver Sheple, Jr., James 
Dana, and Washington Sheple, their associates and assigns be, and they 
hereby are constituted a corporation and made a body politic, by the 
name and style of the Dana Manufacturing Company, for the purpose 
of manufacturing cotton and woollen goods, iron wares, and starch from 
any materials, in the respective towns of Groton and Shirley in the 
county of Middlesex, and for this purpose shall have all the powers and 
privileges, and be subject to all the duties and requirements contained in 
an act passed the twenty -third day of February in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and thirty, entitled ' an act defining the general 
powers and duties of manufacturing corporations,' 

" Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That the said corporation may take and 
hold such real estate, not exceeding in value the sum of two hundred 
thousand dollars, and such personal estate not exceeding in value two 
hundred thousand dollars, as may be suitable and convenient for carry- 
ing on the business aforesaid." 

[Approved by the Governor, March 13, 1832.] 



214 GROTON. 

The building was subsequently used as a paper-mill, 
and burned many years ago, probably during the sum- 
mer of 1846. Soon afterward another mill was erect- 
ed on the same site, which was bought on October 22, 
1852, by Lyman Hollingsworth of Jephthah Richard- 
son Hartwell. The plant was sold in 1881 by Mr. 
Hollingsworth to Messrs. Hollingsworth and Vose, of 
Boston, who still own it. The senior partner of this 
firm is a nephew of the former owner. The product 
of the mill is a Manilla paper of high grade, of which 
about three tons are made daily. On August 7, 1889, 
I visited the mill when they were making a paper, 
which is sent to England in boxes, for the manufac- 
ture of sand-paper, and very likely to be returned 
here in that form. In the stock-houses there were two 
hundred tons of old cordage, more or less, ready to 
be ground up and used in connection with " wood 
pulp,'' which enters largely into the composition of 
the article. Last year a new dam, a solid granite 
structure in place of the original one, was built ; 
though, in times of low water, steam-power is re- 
quired to turn the machinery. 

The direct road from the village of West Groton to 
the paper-mill — perhaps three quarters of a mile in 
length — was laid out by the county commissioners 
on April 13, 1838. An attempt was previously made 
by interested persons, in the spring of 1832, to have 
the same piece of highway buiit, but it did not meet 
with success, as it was then adjudged by the commis- 
sioners to be " not of common convenience and neces- 
sity.'' Of course the road was opened in order to ac- 
commodate the business of the new fattorv. 



GROTON. 215 

The paper-mill on the Nashua River, at the Paper- 
Mill Village, was originally a wooden structure, and 
built in the year 1841 by Oliver Howe, who owned the 
saw-mill and grist-mill in the close proximity ; and 
here the manufacture of Manilla paper was carried 
on. During more than a century there has been a 
dam at this place across the river, and in early times 
there was, also, a ford known as the Stony Fordway 
or Stony Wading-place. Among the Massachusetts 
Archives at the State House is a rough plan, made 
probably about the year 1740, which gives the names 
of the bridges, etc., in this neighborhood, at that 
period. It is found in the volume marked on the back 
11 Maps and Plans " (XVI. 6), and bears the catalogue 
number 1482. 

About the year 1846 the property, on which stood 
these several mills, was sold to the brothers John 
Mark and Lyman Hollings worth ; and on Sept. 1, 
1851, Lyman sold his share to the other brother, John 
Mark, who rebuilt the paper-mill, making it of brick, 
but the building was very soon afterwards burned. 
The following item is taken from the Boston Dally 
Journal, Monday, June 7, 1852 : 

" Paper Mill Burnt. We learn that a paper-mill, dwelling-house 
and out-buildings adjoining, situated in Groton, and owned by Mr. J. 
M. Hollingsworth were totally consumed by fire on Saturday [June 5]." 

The mill was at once rebuilt, and soon again in 
operation. 

" JdSfJ. M. Hollingsworth's extensive and costly paper mills, at Groton 
Junction [Paper Mill Village], are nearly ready to go into operation. 
Mr. H. intends to manufacture first quality book paper, employing 
about 35 hands." 

Lowell Weekly Journal and Courier, May 20, 1853. 



21 G GKOTON. 

On March 7, 1865, Mr. Hollingsworth, just before 
his death, on April 6th of that year, sold the property 
to his brother Lyman, who himself died on April 1, 
1890 ; and eleven years later it was burnt for the sec- 
ond time. The Boston Evening Journal, Friday, 
May 26, 1876, has the following account of the fire: 

" Mill Burnt at Groton, Mass. 
"The large paper mill of Lyman Hollingsworth at North [?] Groton 
was destroyed by fire on Thursday afternoon [May 25]. It gave em- 
ployment to about fifty workmen, and was valued at $140,000. The in- 
surance is placed in the following companies : Etna, Hartford, and 
Phcenix, of Hartford ; Home of New York ; North British and Mer- 
cantile ; Springfield Fire and Marine ; Fire Association of Philadelphia ; 
Meriden Fire; Roger Williams of Providence, and Shawmut of' Boston. 
It is divided as follows : On mill, $50,000 ; machinery, $24,000, and on 
stock, covering the probable loss, 88,000. It is not yet known how the 
fire occurred." 

The mill was again rebuilt, this time by Lyman 
Hollingsworth, and the manufacture of book paper 
continued, now with a daily product of about five 
tons. On Dec. 13, 1881, the establishment was sold 
to Messrs. Tileston and Hollingsworth, of Boston, 
and in July, 1889, by them transferred to the Tiles- 
ton &'Hollingsworth Company, of Boston, a corpora- 
tion organized under the laws of the Common- 
wealth. 

At West Groton there is a leather-board mill, of 
which the daily product is about four tons. It em- 
ploys thirty-five men, and stands on the site of a saw- 
mill and grist-mill, which were built as early as the 
year 1765, and perhaps earlier. There is also a saw- 
mill on the Squannacook River, near the Townsend 
line, giving employment to eight or ten men, where 
box-shooks, reels, staves, etc., are made. 



GROTON. 217 

THE GEOGRAPHY OF GROTOX. 

Rivers. — In early times, before the original Plan- 
tation had been cut up in order to form other town?, 
the Nashua Eiver flowed through the township of 
Groton for a distance of ten miles or more, and nearly- 
bisected its territory ; while to-day its course within 
the town's limits is hardly more than three miles. 
This river is formed by the union of two branches, 
known respectively as the North Brauch and the 
South Branch, which come together at Lancaster. 
The former has its source in Ashburnham, near the 
foot of the Watatuck Mountain, and in Westminster, 
and passes through Fitchburg and Leominster ; while 
the latter rises in the neighborhood of the Wachusett 
Mountain, at Princeton, and among the hills of Rut- 
land and Holden, and passes through West Boylston 
and Clinton. Both these branches for a considerable 
distance above their confluence are known also as the 
Nashua. The stream at Groton is about one hundred 
feet above tide-water. 

At a very early period the Nashua River was some- 
times called the Penacook, and at other times the 
Groton River. In Thomas Noyes's survey of the 
grant of Major Simon Willard's farm, in the autumn 
of 1659, the land is described as " lying and being for 
the most part on the east side of Groaten Riuer." 
And again, at the session beginning on Sept. 6, 1676, 
the approval of the General Court was given to Jona- 
than Danforth's survey of lands laid out to William 
Hauthorne, " lying in the wilderness; on the North 
of Groaten Riuer at a place called by the Indians 
Wistequassuck," now within the limits of Townsend. 



218 GROTOX. 

At a later period it was more frequently referred to as 
the Lancaster River; and it is likely that the stream 
bore different names in different towns along its 
course even at the same time. In the record of " The 
lands of Mr. Samuell Willard, which is layd out to 
him in the towne of Grotten," on Sept. 29, 1680, ref- 
erence is made to the Nashawag River — another form 
of spelling. 

The Squannacook River forms the divisional line 
with Shirley for perhaps four miles, which is the whole 
distance of contact with that town. This stream 
rises in Ashby and flows through Townsend and by 
West Groton, emptying into the Nashua. The name 
is found in the Proprietors' records as early as the 
spring of 1684. 

Ponds. — Baddacook Pond — lies about two miles 
from the village, near the Lowell Road. It covers an 
area of 103 acres, and is the largest pond in the 
town. It is mentioned in the record of James Par- 
ker's land under the date of July 6, 1666. 

Outlet : Baddacook Brook, which flows into Cow 
Pond. 

Cady Pond — a small and deep pond, covering per- 
haps two acres, lying less than a mile from the village 
in a southeasterly direction, near the Boston Road. 
It was named after Nicholas Cady, one of the early 
settlers, who owned land in the neighborhood. This 
pond and Flat Pond, both very small, are the only 
ones in the town whose waters ultimately reach the 
Nashua River. 

Outlet: a small unnamed brook running south- 
westerly into James' Brook. 






GROTON. 219 

Cow Pond — sometimes called Whitney's Pond, in 
the easterly part of the town, covering an area of 
seventy-one«acres. Cow Pond Meadow is mentioned 
in the record of Ralph Reed's land before the year 
1664. 

Outlet : Cow Pond Brook, which flows into Massa- 
poag Pond. 

Duck Pond — near the Ridges, east of Knop's Pond, 
and separated from it by a ridge only — lies perhaps 
half a mile south of Cow Pond. It covers fifty-five 
acres, and has no outlet. 

Flat Pond — a small sheet of water near the Throne, 
in the west part of the towm. 

Outlet : a small unnamed brook into the Squanna- 
cook River. 

Half- Moon Pond— a, small pond in the upper part of 
the meadow, which lies south of the Hillside Road. 

Knop's Pond — near the Ridges, west of Duck Pond, 
and is of the same size as that pond, covering fifty- 
five acres. So called from James Knapp, or Knop, 
an early settler who owned land in the neighborhood. 

Outlet : a brook into Cow r Pond. 

Long Pond — lies on the southern border of the 
town, partly in Groton, but mostly in Ayer, covering 
forty-five acres. 

Outlet: a brook into Sandy Pond. 

Martin's Pond — near the foot of Gibbet Hill, on its 
northeasterly side — covers sixteen and two-thirds 
acres; it was named after William Martin, an early 
settler. In the record of James Parker's land, on 
July 6, 1666, "the pond called Goodman Martin's 
Pond," is mentioned. The following article, found 



220 GROTON. 

in the warrant for the town-meeting held on Septem- 
ber 17, 1792, seems to show that the outlet of the 
pond was formerly through Hog Swamp, and Half- 
Moon Meadow into James's Brook, though there is 
now no other evidence to confirm this view : 

" Art. 8. To see if the town will order the water running from Mar- 
tin's Pond to be turned into the old Channel as it formerly used to run, 
through the Town, and appoint some proper person or persons to remove 
the obstructions and Effect the Business." 

In the proceedings of the meeting, it is recorded 
that this article was " Past in the Negative." A 
measurement of the pond was lately made, when 
frozen over, which proves it to be much smaller than 
it was half a century ago. 

Outlet: Martin's Pond Brook into the outlet of 
Knop's Pond, half-way between" that pond and Cow 
Pond. 

Massapoag Pond — on the easterly border of the 
town, but lies mostly in Dunstable and Tyngsborough, 
covering an area of fifty-six acres. It is now used as 
a storage basin of water by the Vale Mills Manu- 
facturing Company, of Nashua, New Hampshire, and 
in dry seasons it is drawn upon for a supply. 

Outlet: Salmon Brook, which empties into the 
Merrimack River at Nashua. 

Springy Pond — a small sheet of water connected 
with Knop's Pond by a brook. 

Wattle's Pond — three miles north of the village, on 
the road to East Pepperell, with no outlet. The origin 
of the name is unknown ; but perhaps from Wattle, 
" a rod laid on a roof for the purpose of supporting 
the thatch." Many of the houses of the early settlers 
were thatched. 



GROTON. 221 

The area of the ponds, with the exception of 
Martin's Pond, is taken from the Fourth Annual 
Report of the State Board of Health of Massachu- 
setts (January, 1873), as given on pages 124 and 125. 

A story is told relative to Massapoag Pond, based 
on tradition, which probably has no real foundation. 
It is said that — 

"Its outlet was on the easterly side, and as it was the reservoir into 
which Cowpond brook poured its waters, a considerable mill-stream is- 
sued from it. The waters passed without any rapids for a considerable 
distance, affording no favorable site for a mill. The north end of the 
pond was bounded by a ridge of loose sand, rising but little above the 
surface of the water, and being about six rods only in width ; on the op- 
posite side of which was a descent of about forty feet. Here, then, was 
an eligible spot for an overshot mill. At a town-meeting held May 21, 
1688, a grant was made to Samuel Adams of a small pond near Buck 
meadow, and leave given to drain it by a brook running into 'Tyng's 
cove.' At the same meeting, for the encouragement of any who would 
set up iron-works at Massapoag, a grant was offered of the wood on the 
easterly side of Unquetenassett brook. It is said that Adams, who is 
supposed to have accepted the grant, erected a grist-mill at the site above 
mentioned, conducting the water across the sand-bank to the flume of 
his mill. At the time of a flood about the year 1700 (the precise time is 
not known), a breach was made across the sand-bank, and it being very 
loose and moveable, the whole bank was soon torn down by the water 
to the depth of more than thirty feet ; and consequently a sheet of water 
of that depth, where the pond was so deep, and where of less depth the 
whole water upon the surface, flowed suddenly off (all in one night), 
with irresistible violence. The mill, of course, was demolished, and the 
stones, though diligently sought for, and even the skill of the famous 
Moll Pitcher, of Lynn, employed in the search, have never yet been 
found. The bottom of the pond being uueven, fish in abundance were 
left in the cavities, which wore easily taken, and the inhabitants of the 
neighboring towns, as well as of Groton, came and carried off loads ot 
them. W T here the water formerly issued from the pond, a small brook 
now runs in, and the outlet is, at the place of disruption, called the 
'gulf.' The water finds its way into the old channel, two or three 
miles from the pond, in a northwesterly direction from Dunstable meet- 
ing-house." 

[Butler's History of Groton, pages 246, 247J. 



222 GEOTON. 

The name of Buck Meadow, which has been in use 
for more than two centuries, is firmly established, 
and the site well known. The meadow lies near 
Lovewell's Pond, formerly within the limits of Groton, 
but now in Nashua; and Adams's mill stood undoubt- 
edly at the outlet of this pond, where there is a 
small water-power. This theory would tally with the 
town records ; and furthermore a tradition is still ex- 
tant that there was once a mill in the neighborhood. 
Lovewell's Pond is much smaller than Massapoag, 
and at that time probably had no designation. It 
was named after Captain John Lovewell, who was 
killed by the Indians on May 8, 1725. The following 
is the entry in the records : 

"May : 21. 1688. The inhabitants of Groton Granted to Samull 
Adams y e pond that lyes neare buck medow which hath its outlet into 
the medow known by y e name of Tyngs Couee, and the swampy land 
adioyeng ther to prouided y e sd land do not exceed fifteen accers ; 
" atest ; Josiah Parker Clarkt 

and sd adams hath liberty to drean the s d pond at y e small brook that 
runes in to Tyng'sCoue prouided sd Adames macks good all dameges that 
shall be don ther by " 

There are now three small brooks running into 
Massapoag Pond on the easterly side, and their fall 
is too great for any one of them ever to have been the 
old outlet to the pond. Furthermore, it would have 
been impossible for any of these brooks to drain the 
pond (which even at the present time covers fifty-six 
acres) without causing too great damage for Adams to 
make good. There is no indication along their banks 
that they have been much larger streams than they are 
to-day. While the formation of the banks at the 
mouth of the pond, or the " gulf," so called, is pecu- 



GROTON. 223 

liar, there are no signs that the water-line was ever 
any higher than it is at the present time. None of 
the local antiquaries are able to identify Tyng's Cove, 
which is a name undoubtedly derived from Jonathan 
Tyng, one of the earliest settlers of Dunstable. 

At the same town-meeting, held on May 21, 1688, 
the inhabitants of Groton — 

" Deed then by the maior uoat grant for the incoregment of such men 
as will set up Ioran works at masabog pond ; that thay shall haue y° ues 
& improument of the woods and timbr y* is now common one the est sid 
of uncuttanaset brook and so to nashua riuer and groton line est ward & 
60uth ward to good man greens' masabog medow. . . ." 

I give this extract from the town records in order to 
show that the inhabitants at that period knew the 
pond by its present name ; and if they had seen fit 
then to grant Adams any special privilege connected 
with it, they would have called it " Massapoag," and 
would not have said " y e pond that lyes neare buck 
medow." 

Hills. — Barralock Hill — is mentioned in the record 
of Samuel Woods' lands ; but I am unable to identify 
it. Perhaps it is the hill due north of Baddacook 
Pond. 

Brown Loaf Hill — commonly called Brown Loaf — 
is a handsome, symmetrical hill standing alone, more 
than a mile from the village, near the Lowell road. 
Brown Loaf Hill Meadow is mentioned in the descrip- 
tion of Joseph Parker's lands, December 2, 1664, which 
would imply that the hill was so named before lhat 
time. Brown Loaf Hill is also mentioned in the 
record of James Parker's lands made on July 6, 1666 ; 
and Brownloafe Playne and Brownloaf Hill are given 
in the record of James Fisk's lands in John Morse's 



224 GROTON. 

handwriting, of which the date is absent, but which 
was certainly made at a very early period. The 
height of the hill is 448 feet above mean tide on the 
coast line. 

Chestnut Hills — the range lying northerly of Mar- 
tin's Pond ; so called from the abundant growth of 
chestnut-trees on its sides. The highest hills in the 
town, their greatest elevation being 544 feet. 

Clay-Pit Hill — the small hill at the corner of the 
East Pepperell road and Break Neck. 

Gibbet Hill — a noted landmark overlooking the vil- 
lage on its easterly side. It is mentioned in the land- 
grant of Sergeant James Parker, which was entered in 
the town records of Richard Sawtell, the first town 
clerk who filled the office from June, 1662, to Jan- 
uary, 1664-65. The tradition is that the hill w r as so 
called from the fact that once an Indian was gibbeted 
on its top. If this ever occurred, it must have hap- 
pened before Sawtell's term of office. The town was 
incorporated by the General Court on May 25, 1655, 
but no public records are known to have been kept 
before June 23, 1662. Its height is 516 feet. 

Horse Hill — in the eastern part of the town, near 
Massapoag Pond. It lies partly in Dunstable, and is 
covered with woods. 

Indian Hill, or Hills — the range beginning near 
James's Brook, a mile south of the village, and run- 
ning in an easterly direction on the south side of the 
Great Road to Boston. The height is 524 feet above 
mean tide. 

Naumox — a low hill or ridge a short distance west 
of the road to East Pepperell, near the Longley mon- 



GROTON. 225 

ument, and running parallel with the road. The 
name is also used in connection with the neighbor- 
hood. 

Prospect Hill — very near Cady Pond, and east of 
it ; perhaps 250 feet or more above the Nashua, and 
503 feet above mean tide. 

Ridge Hill, or The Ridges — the name of a peculiar 
ridge, three miles southeasterly from the village, 
along which the Great Road runs. It also gave the 
name to a tavern formerly kept in the immediate 
neighborhood. 

Rocky Hill — there are two hills of this name, one 
lying northeasterly of Baddacook Pond, near the old 
District School- house No. VIII. (now the Trowbridge 
School), which is also known as the Rocky Hill 
School, and the other situated in the southeast part 
of the town, between Long Pond and the Ridges. A 
visit to either of these hills will show why it was so 
called. 

Sandy Hill — a small elevation on the road to East 
Pepperell, below the Longley monument, near the 
place where the Nashua road branches oft'. 

Shepley Hill — lies west of the East Pepperell road, 
near Naumox. The name is rarely heard now, 
though it was in use as far back as February 28, 
1670, — evidently so called from the Shepley family. 

Snake Hill — in the south part of the town, but 
lies mostly in Ayer. Rattlesnakes have been killed 
on it within the memory of the present generation. 
Its height is 497 feet. 

The Throne — a high hill in the western part of 
the town, on the summit of which is a level field of 
15 



226 GROTON. 

perhaps sixty acres, containing a small pond, — near 
the Townsend line. A map of Groton resembles a 
tea-kettle, the portion west of the Nashua River 
forming the spout, and the Throne comes in the 
spout. It is 484 feet high. 

Meadows. — The early settlers of Groton, accord- 
ing to the town records, had many parcels of meadow 
allotted to them in the assignment of land. Sergeant 
James Parker owned in twenty different meadows, 
and the other settlers also were large owners. It is 
probable that they did not attach the same significa- 
tion to the word " meadow " which now belongs to it 
in New England, where it means low, swampy land, 
without regard to the mowing. They called by this 
name all grass-land that was annually mown for hay, 
and especially that by the side of a river or brook ; 
and this meaning of the word was and still is the 
common one in England, whence theybrought their 
language. They sometimes spoke of a " swamp," 
meaning by it what we call a "bog;" but much of 
this kind of land has since been reclaimed, and is 
now known as " meadow." As a matter of fact, it 
happened that the lands which could be mown for 
the fodder were low lands ; and it would require per- 
haps less than a generation to transfer the meaning 
of mowing lands to the low lands, which were nearly 
the only ones that could be mown in the early days 
of the Colony. This explanation will make clear the 
following vote of the town, passed on February 18> 
1680-81 : 

"At the same meetiDg it was agreed vpon and voted that M r Hubberd 
should haue all the comon which was capable to mak niedow iii swan 



GROTOX. 227 

pond medow vp to the ypland for seauen acre and a halfe for to mak 
vp his fifteen acres of medow." 

The following names of meadows are found in the 
town records, and in a few instances I have indicated 
their locality : 

Accident ; Angle, in the northerly part of the 
town ; Big Spring, in the neighborhood of Hawtree 
Brook ; Broad, immediately west of the village ; 
Brook ; Brown Loaf, east of the hill ; Buck, now 
lying within the limits of Nashua, New Hampshire; 
Burnt, in the vicinity of Baddacook Pond ; Cow 
Pond, near the pond of that name ; East ; Ferney, 
near Brown Loaf; Flaggy, to the southward of the 
Baddacook road, near the pond ; Flax ; Great 
Flaggy, presumably near Flaggy, and perhaps the 
same; Great Half-Moon, the same as Half-Moon, 
which lies east of the village ; Little Buck, probably 
a part of Buck Meadow ; Little Half-Moon, a part 
of Half-Moon, being an offshoot from it; Lodge; 
Long; Maple; Massapoag, evidently near Massapoag 
Pond; New Angle; Pine; Plain; Pretty; Provi- 
dence; Quasoponagon, "on the other sid of the 
riuer," near the Red Bridge, through which Wrang- 
ling Brook runs ; Reedy, known by this name to-day, 
lying north of the Reedy Meadow Road; Rock, 
south of Snake Hill ; Sallo, perhaps Sallow, a kind 
of willow ; Sedge ; Skull, through which Unqueten- 
assett Brook runs, near the Dunstable line ; Sledge, 
north of Reedy Meadow, near the Sledges ; South ; 
South Brook; Spang; Spot; Spring; Spruce; 
Swamp ; Swan Pond; and Weavers. 

In the record of Daniel Pearse's land, by William 



228 GROTOX. 

Longley, town clerk, oil July 6, 1666, reference is 
made to the " iland lying within the meadow called 
Litle Halfe Moone Meadow." This land now be- 
longs to Governor Boutwell, and there is upon it a 
small knoll which is always spoken of as the island, 
undoubtedly a survival of the expression applied to it 
when more or less surrounded by water. 

Brooks. — Cold Spring Brook — a small brook, rising 
in Cold Spring " on y e Left hand of the high way 
that goe to Reedy medow." It runs across the Nashua 
road, the East Pepperell road, through Hazen Swamp 
and Libby Lobby Moat, into the Nashua River. 

Cow Pond Brook — has its source in Cow Pond 
Meadows and Cow Pond, and empties into Massapoag 
Pond. Formerly there was a dam between the mead- 
ows and the pond, where there was a saw-mill ; and 
later on the same site a paper-mill, which disappeared 
about thirty -five years ago. 

Gift Brook — in the north part of the town, rises in 
Gift Meadow, crosses Chicopee Row, and empties into 
Unquetenassett Brook. 

James's Brook — one of the longest brooks within the 
limits of the town. It takes its rise in Half-Moon 
Meadow, crosses Main Street in the village, and runs 
southerly and westerly for three or four miles into the 
Nashua River. At its mouth is the beginning of the 
line separating the town of Ayer from Groton. For- 
merly there w r as a tannery on the banks of the brook, 
near Indian Hill, known as Dix's tannery ; and a mile 
below, on land of the late Benjamin Moors, east of the 
road, at one time there was a mill, — but now no traces 
of either are left, except some remains of the mill- 



GROTON. 229 

dam. The stream took its name from an Indian, 
Avho was a famous hunter and trapper in very early 
times. It empties into the Nashua River, nearly 
opposite to the mouth of the Squannacook. 

Hawtree Brook — in the northerly part of the town, 
near Chicopee Row ; after it unites with Walnut Run 
and two or three other small streams, it forms Unque- 
tenassett Brook. In the early records of the town the 
Hawtrees are frequently spoken of, which refer to the 
neighborhood of this brook. 

Nod Brook — rises near the Soapstone Quarry, crosses 
the Nod road, and runs into the Nashua River. 

Reedy Meadow Brook — rises in Reedy Meadow and 
flows northerly, emptying into the Nashua River 
below East Pepperell. It is sometimes called John- 
son's Brook. 

Sedge Brook — a small brook from Sedge Meadow, 
running into Reedy Meadow Brook. 

Tuity Brook — contracted from Gratuity — a very 
small stream which rises near the head of Farmers' 
Row and runs through Hazle Grove into the Nashua 
River below Fitch's Bridge. 

Unquetenassett Brook — often called Unkety — A 
stream formed by the union of Walnut Run, Haw- 
tree Brook, and one or two small tributaries, and run- 
ning northerly through Skull Meadow and that part 
of Dunstable formerly Groton into the Nashua. 

Walnut Run — a brook issuing from the sides of 
Chestnut Hills and uniting with Hawtree Brook and 
one or two other streams, forms the Unquetenassett. 

Also the name of a place — perhaps it was the mouth 
of a stream — on the Nashua River where in olden 



230 GROTON 

times there was a bridge. It stood farther up the 
river than Fitch's Bridge. 

Wrangling Brook — in West Groton, a mile and a 
half in length — meanders through Quasoponagon 
Meadow, and then empties into the Nashua a short 
distance below the Eed Bridge. 

Koads. — Baddacook Pond Road — a continuation 
of the Martin's Pond Road to the neighborhood of 
the pond. 

Break Neck — the short strip of road from the East 
Pepperell road to Common Street, south 67 the soap- 
stone quarry. 

Chicopee Row — running north for three miles from 
the Cemetery. The district to which it leads is 
known as Chicopee, a name given long ago. 

Farmers' Row— applied to the road on the height 
of land west of the village. It begins at the west end 
of Pleasant Street, and runs in a southerly direction 
for two miles, passing by the Groton School. 

Great Road — one of the principal thoroughfares 
between Boston and parts of New Hampshire and 
Vermont. The section of the road through the vil- 
lage is known as Main Street. 

Hillside Road — the highway along the southern 
slope of the Indian Hills. 

Love Lane — the highway from the Lowell Road, 
near the First Parish Meeting-house, to the Great 
Road near Cady Pond. 

Martin's Fond Road — the highway from the site 
of the first meeting-house to the neighborhood of the 
pond, where it becomes the Baddacook Pond Road. 

Reedy Meadow Road — from the Nashua road to 
Chicopee Row, immediately south of Reedy Meadow. 



GROTON. 231 

Squash Path — through the woods from the East 
Pepperell road to the Nashua road — a short distance 
beyond Cold Spring Brook. 

Tuity Road — a contraction of Gratuity Road — the 
road leading to Fitch's Bridge from the Great Road 
near the railroad bridge, half a mile north of the village. 
The name had its origin in the early history of the 
town, when grants of land were made to the inhabit- 
ants as gratuities. Tuity Brook, a very small stream, 
crosses this road and empties into the Nashua River, 
below Fitch's Bridge. 

Miscellaneous. — Brickyard— on the north side 
of the Great Road, about a mile from the First Parish 
Meeting-house. It was much used during the last 
century ; and probably was the place where the bricks 
were made for the parsonage, as mentioned in the 
town-records, June 20, 1706. Only a few traces of it 
are now left, though a clump of elms by the road- 
side is a good guide to the site. 

Brown Loaf Plain — to the west of Brown Loaf. 

Community — the name of a district or neighbor- 
hood beyond the Groton School, where many of the 
residents formerly held similar religious views. It 
had its origin nearly fifty years ago, when the Sec- 
ond Adventists, or, " Millerites," gave up their regu- 
lar services in the village. 

Dead River — the old course of the Nashua River, 
around the island which was formed by the cutting 
through of the " neck." 

Deep Soil — in the neighborhood of the race-course, 
in Hazle Grove; so-called on the lucus a non lucendo 
principle. 



232 GKOTON. 

Fitch's Bridge — over the Nashua River, a mile and 
a quarter below the Red Bridge. 

General Field — often mentioned in the early town, 
records, refers to land owned in severalty by the pro- 
prietors of Groton, who kept it as one field, for rea- 
sons not now understood. It was upland, and lay in 
the southwest part of the town, near the river. It 
appears to have been allotted to the proprietors, ac- 
cording to the number of acre-rights which each one 
owned. Perhaps it was land already cleared when 
the first settlers came. 

The Gift — a parcel of land near Reedy Meadow, 
in the north part of the town. 

The Hawtrees — mentioned several times in the early 
records, and referring, doubtless, to some native 
shrubs or trees ; for instance, Zachery Sawtell had 
meadow-land "Neare the hawtrees " confirmed to him 
on November 18, 1670. It' evidently became the name 
of a limited district or neighborhood in the north part 
of the town, and from it undoubtedly Hawtree Brook 
was named. The late Professor Asa Gray, the distin- 
guished botanist, wrote me that there are three or four 
species of wild hawthorn in Massachusetts. He says: 
" One of the forms of the Black or Pear Thorn (Cra~ 
tcegus tomentosa) would be the likeliest for Groton, of 
perhaps the Cockspur Thorn. The former has the 
more edible fruit, and would be sure to attract atten- 
tion." 

Hazen Swamp — near the mouth of Cold Spring 
Brook. 

Hazle Grove — the neighborhood of the east bank of 
the Nashua River above Fitch's Bridge. 



GROTON. 233 , 

HicJcs's Hole — a small piece of meadow, lying north 
of Reedy Meadow. 

High Plain — on the north side of the Baddacook 
road, in the neighborhood of the pond. It lies in the 
angle of the roads, west of the house of John John- 
son, Jr., as laid down on the map of Groton, made 
from a survey during the years 1828 and 1829. 

Hog Swamp — lying between the westerly side ot 
Martin's Pond and Martin's Pond Road. Governor 
Boutwell's private way to the Chestnut Hills passes 
through it. 

Hoyfs Wharf— the name of a place on Cow Pond 
Brook where one Hoyt formerly kept his boat. It 
was near the house of Samuel Hazen, — as laid down 
on the map of Groton, made from a survey during the 
years 1828 and 1829, — nearly a mile north of Cow Pond. 

The Island — a small, though prominent, hill in the 
meadow south of Hillside Road ; undoubtedly once 
surrounded by water. 

Jamaica — the name of a small patch of meadow 
behind the hills on the west side of Chicopee Row. 

Libby Lobby Moat — below the Ox Bow, opening into 
the Nashua River. This word is probably another 
form of Loblolly, in use at the South, and denoting 
wet land. 

Lily Moat — on the east side of the Nashua and 
south of the road, near the Red Bridge. 

Madagascar — the name of the district where the 
paper-mill formerly stood on the brook, between Cow 
Pond and Knop's Pond. 

Nod — the district lying in the neighborhood of 
the four corners, below the soapstone quarry. The 



• 234 GROTON. 

road from the Hollingsworth Paper-mills to this place 
is called the Nod Road. 

Ox Bow — the bend of the Nashua River, in the 
northerly part of the town, below the Lawrence pas- 
ture. 

Paugus Hole — in Paugus Brook, on the west side of 
Brown Loaf, where, it is said, the body of Paugus's 
descendant, who came to kill Chamberlain, was sunk, 
after he himself was killed. 

Pine Plain — probably near the Nashua River, and 
perhaps on the westerly side. In December, 1673, 
Joseph Morse had meadow-lands on the Pine Plain, 
" neare the fordway." 

Punch Bowl — one of several natural depressions 
near the Lowell road, below Brown Loaf. The name 
is also applied to the neighborhood. 

Red Bridge — over the Nashua River, on the road 
to West Groton. , 

Sledges — the name of a meadow northeast of Reedy 
Meadow, mentioned in the early records, where John 
Lakin owned land. Mr. Butler, in his History (page 
273), says that "this word seems to signify strips of 
meadow or parcels of low lands abounding in iron 
ore." Bog-iron is found in that quarter of the town, 
and in old times was worked by a company formed 
for that purpose. 

Sodom — the district in the northwest part of the 
town, near the Townsend line. The name refers to 
the quality of the soil, and not to the character of the 
inhabitants. 

Squannacook — an Indian word — the old name of 
West Groton, — applied to the river passing by that 
village. 



GROTON. 235 

Stony Fordway, or Wading-Place — near the site of 
the Hollingsworth Paper-mills, on the Nashua River, 
a mile and a half northwesterly of the village. 

Swill Bridge — was between the homesteads of Eber 
Woods, Jr., and Joel Davis, — as given on Mr. Butler's 
map of Groton, from a survey made in the years 1828 
and 1829, — a short distance west of the present rail- 
road bridge. Originally it was a causeway, perhaps 
twenty rods in length, over the southerly end of 
Broad Meadow, though now it is a solid road. 

Thomas Tarbell's Fordway — was between where the 
Red Bridge now stands and Fitch's Bridge, which 
is a mile and a quarter below. 

Tobacco Pipe Plain — on both sides of the road 
from the Ridges to Sandy Pond, near Rocky Hill. It 
is mentioned in the "Bye-Laws of Groton relative to 
Schools ; and Instruction of the School Committee, 
1805," and in old deeds. 

Reflection of Light. — The reflection of the 
electric light in Boston and the surrounding towns 
can be seen from certain elevations at a great dis- 
tance. When the atmospheric conditions are favor- 
able, it is distinctly visible on particular nights from 
Indian Hill at Groton, in the neighborhood of Ma- 
jor Moses Poor Palmer's house, and from other 
places in the town. A slight haziness in the air is 
needed in order to receive the reflection. The dis- 
tance from Boston to Groton in a straight line is 
about thirty miles, though the illumination is helped 
by the electric systems of Newton and Waltham, 
which are somewhat nearer. From different points 
in the village of Groton the reflection of the circuits 



236 GROTON. 

at Nashua, Lowell, Clinton and Fitchburg is often 
visible, which places are twelve or thirteen miles dis- 
tant as the crow flies. 

The illumination of the heavens during the great 
fire that occurred in Boston on the night of Novem- 
ber 9, 1872, was distinctly seen by various persons in 
different parts of the town. 



BIOGRAPHICAL. 

ABBOTT LAWRENCE. 

The name of Lawrence is one of the earliest to be 
found among the Puritan settlers of Massachusetts. 
John Lawrence, the first emigrant of the name, was 
established in Watertown as early as 1635. 

Abbott Lawrence was the fifth son of Samuel and 
Susanna Lawrence. He was born in Groton on the 
16th day of December, 1792. He received the family 
name of his paternal grandmother, Abigail Abbott, 
daughter of Nehemiah Abbott, of Lexington. His 
education, begun at the district school, was completed 
at the academy of the town, of which his father had 
been a trustee for many years. He enjoyed nothing 
in the way of educational advantages beyond this, but 
he evidently improved the time and turned all that 
he received to the best account. In 1808 he was sent 
to Boston and placed as an apprentice to his elder 
brother, Amos Lawrence, who had been for some 
years established there as an importer of English 
goods. By steady application and fidelity he pre- 



GROTOX. 237 

pared himself in this subordinate position for the re- 
sponsibilities which were soon to come upon him as 
a principal. In 1814 he was admitted to partnership 
with his brother. The times were by no means encour- 
aging, as we were in the midst of our war with Eng- 
land, and after a few months the prospect seemed so 
unpromising that Mr. Lawrence proposed to withdraw 
from the business and enter the army. He had pre- 
viously been an active member of the New England 
Guards. He applied to the War Department for a 
commission, but before an answer could be received 
the news of peace arrived, and he abandoned all 
thought of a military life. He embarked in the first 
vessel that left Boston for England after the procla- 
mation of peace to purchase goods for the market. 
" The passage was a short one. With characteristic 
ardor, he was the first to leap on shore, being thus, 
perhaps, the first American who touched his fatherland 
after the war was ended." He remained abroad for 
some time, on the occasion of this his first voyage to 
Europe, visiting the Continent, where he saw the allied 
armies immediately after the battle of Waterloo. 

Messrs. A. & A. Lawrence soon engaged largely in 
the sale of cotton and woolen goods of domestic man- 
ufacture, and devoted all their energies to foster this 
great branch of the national industry. Mr. Lawrence's 
interest in the work of railroad construction in New 
England was hardly less than in the establishment 
and extension of the manufacturing system. He was 
a large subscriber to the various railroads projected 
for the concentration of trade in Boston, and this 
from a feeling of patriotism rather than the expecta- 



238 GROTON. 

tion of profit. Mr. Lawrence was chosen to represent 
Massachusetts at the Harrisburg Convention in 1827 
and took a prominent part in its proceedings. In 
1831 he was elected to the Common Council of Boston, 
but declined a re-election. In 1834 he was elected to 
Congress. On taking his place he was at once put on 
the Committee of Ways and Means. On the expira- 
tion of his term his constituents testified their sense 
of his services by inviting him to a public 
dinner. This he declined in a letter in which 
he touches on the great questions of the day. He de- 
clined a re-election to Congress, although the mem- 
bers of the opposite party gave him the remarkable 
assurance that, if he would consent to stand, no can- 
didate should be brought out against him. Two 
years later he consented to accept a second nomina- 
tion and again took his seat in the House. Shortly 
after his arrival he was attacked by typhus fever, so 
that for some time small hopes were entertained of his 
recovery. He resigned in the following autumn. 

In the Presidential campaign of 1840, Mr. Law- 
rence took an active part in favor of the election of 
General Harrison. In September, 1842, he was pres- 
ident of the Whig Convention which nominated Henry 
Clay for President on the part of Massachusetts. 

In 1842 Mr. Lawrence was appointed by the Gov- 
ernor one of the commissioners on the part of Mas- 
sachusetts to negotiate a settlement of our northeast- 
ern boundary, which had been a source of irritation 
for many years between the United States and Eng- 
land. Quoting Mr. Prescott's language : " It is not 
too much to say that but for the influence exerted by 



GROTON. 239 

Mr. Lawrence on this occasion the treaty, if it had 
been arranged at all, would never have been brought 
into the shape which it now wears." Mr. Nathan 
Appleton in his memoir confirms this statement in the 
following words : " It is the belief of the writer, who 
was then in Congress, that to Mr. Lawrence more than 
to any other individual is due the successful accom- 
plishment of the negotiation which resulted in the 
important Treaty of Washington." 

In July, 1843, Mr. Lawrence, accompanied by his 
wife and daughter, embarked from Boston for England 
in the steamer "Columbia." The following day they 
were wrecked on Black Ledge, near Seal Island. 
After a week's detention on the island, they were 
transported to Halifax whence they proceeded on their 
voyage. 

Mr. Lawrence's reputation had preceded him. He 
was received in England with marked attention, and 
the hospitality of many distinguished and influential 
people was extended to him. 

In 1844 he was a delegate to the Whig National 
Convention and one of the electors at large for the 
State of Massachusetts. He was an ardent sup- 
porter of Henry Clay for the Presidency and deeply 
disappointed on his defeat. 

In 1845 the Essex Company was organized and Mr. 
Lawrence was its president and the first and largest 
subscriber to its stock. The city of Lawrence, incor- 
porated as a town in 1847, was named for him. 

Most justly has it been said : " The broad compre- 
hension, unwavering faith and large capacity of Ab- 
bott Lawrence should never be forgotten by dwellers 
in the city that bears his name." 



240 G-ROTON. 

In 1846 Mr. Lawrence addressed to the Hon. Wm. 
C. Rives, of Virginia, his celebrated letters on the 
tariff. Mr. Webster wrote to Mr. Lawrence from 
Washington : " Your letters to Mr. Rives have a very- 
great circulation, as you are aware, and are highly 
praised by intelligent men. The second of them will 
form the substratum of what I propose to say (if I 
say anything) on the tariff subject." ''These letters 
attracted much attention in all parts of the country 
and especially in Virginia, where they were re-printed 
and commented upon at length in the leading news- 
papers. So deep was the impression made in that 
State by them, and such a spirit of enterprise did they 
enkindle, that some of the leading citizens invited 
him to come and establish a manufacturing town at 
the Great Falls of the Potomac. This appeal on the 
part of a sister State for co-operation and leadership 
in the development of its industry and capital was a 
remarkable recognition and tribute to the ability and 
character of Mr. Lawrence. . . . But vast interests 
were at stake nearer home, and he could not allow 
himself to be diverted from this work by the projected 
enterprise on the shores of the Potomac, no matter how 
alluring the promise of results both to himself and to 
others." 

Mr. Hill in his Memoir thus spoke of Mr. Law- 
rence : " His character, in all respects that of the pure 
New England type, was peculiarly so in the love and 
zeal which he always manifested in the cause of 
popular education. . . . We have an illustration of 
this in the letters written by him when he established 
the Lawrence prizes in the High and Latin Schools 



GROTOX. 241 

of Boston, (1844-45) giving to each the sum of $2000 
— using his own language — the interest to be expended 
in medals, books, and other prizes among those pupils 
who may excel in the various branches of learning 
which are taught in those schools." In a like spirit 
he aided in the endowment of the Franklin Library 
at Lawrence which also received a bequest of $5000 
at his death. 

For several years he had felt (to use his own words) 
" the pressing want in our community (and in the whole 
country) of an increased number of men educated in 
the practical sciences." " He was satisfied," says Mr. 
Prescott, " that, how T ever liberal the endowments of that 
institution " (Harvard University) " for objects of lib- 
eral culture, no adequate provision had been made for 
instruction in science." When, therefore, the Corpo- 
ration of the University announced its purpose of or- 
ganizing a school of theoretical and practical science, 
he responded by a gift in 1847 of fifty thousand dollars. 
In recognition of his munificence the institution was 
named the Lawrence Scientific School. Soon after its 
establishment, Professor Agassiz was appointed to the 
chair of Zoology and Geology. Mr. Lawrence en- 
dowed the school with a further like sum by his will. 

Mr. Lawrence was a leader in the movement to 
supply the city of Boston with an abundance of pure 
water. He attended several public meetings held to 
promote that object, and made speeches in support of 
it. One of them may be found in full in " Hill's Me- 
moir" of him. The project met w r ith the strongest 
opposition. The first act of the Legislature (passed 
March, 1845) authorizing the city to take water from 
1G 



242 GROTON. 

either Long Pond or Charles River was rejected at 
the polls by a large majority, but a second act, such 
had been the change in public opinion only eleven 
months later, was accepted by a still larger majority. 
Water was brought into the city from Long Pond in 
October, 1848, and Mr. Lawrence lived to see all his 
prediction? more than verified. 

In the Presidential canvass of 1848 the name of Mr. 
Lawrence was prominently associated for the office of 
Vice-President with that of General Taylor for Presi- 
dent, and at the convention in Philadelphia he wanted 
but six votes of being nominated for that office. 
This result was owing to the peculiar and unexpected 
course of some of the delegates from his own State. 
He, however, heartily sustained the nomination of 
Taylor and Fillmore. Immediately after the inaugu- 
ration of General Taylor, Mr. Lawrence was offered 
a seat in his Cabinet, but declined it; soon after he 
was nominated to the mission to England, which he 
accepted. After serving three years his private 
affairs obliged him to return, and in October, 1852, he 
resigned. No minister from the United States was 
ever more respected or left behind him a more envia- 
ble reputation. The Rev. John Cumming, in dedicat- 
ing the American edition* cf his " Apocalyptic 
Sketches " to Mr. Lawrence, says : " I regard this as 
an opportunity of expressing a conviction shared and 
felt by the good and great of this country how much 
they appreciated your presence in London, as the 
representative of your magnificent nation, and how 
deeply, — I may add universally, — they regretted your 
departure. We never had so popular a minister from 



GROTON. 243 

America or one who has done so much to leave last- 
ing and elevated impressions of his countrymen." 

After his return from England, Mr. Lawrence held 
no public positioo, though he still maintained a warm 
interest in public affairs. He vigorously opposed the 
new State Constitution of 1853 and made numerous 
speeches against it ; but with this exception and his 
efforts in the " canvass for General Scott as President, 
he took no active part in politics. He showed the 
same zeal as ever in the cause of education, and 
watched with the deepest interest over the rising for- 
tunes of the Scientific School which he had founded 
at Cambridge." 

Mr. Lawrence married, on the 28th of June, 1819, 
Katharine, the eldest daughter of the Hon. Timothy 
Bigelow, the distinguished lawyer. He died in Bos- 
ton on the 18th of August, 1855, and was buried with 
civil and military honors. 

Recognizing Mr. Lawrence's hearty and generous 
interest in the cause of education, as well as his valu- 
able public services, Williams College in 1852 and 
Harvard College in 1854 conferred on him the hon- 
orary degree of Doctor of Laws. 



HON. MOSES P. PALMER. 1 

Moses Poor Palmer is a son of Moses Harriman and 
Mary Harriman (Hale) Palmer, and was born at Derry, 
N. H., on May 1, 1830. His parents were cousins, and 
in the year 1832 the family removed to East Bradford 

iBy Hon. Samuel Abbott Greeu. 



244 



GROTON. 



(now Groveland), where the son received his early 
education, attending school at Merrimack Academy, 
in that village. During the summer months he 
worked upon his father's farm, and in the winter on 
the shoemaker's bench, as was the custom of young 
men at that time in his neighborhood. He learned 
the trade of shoe-cutting at Marlborough ; and in the 
year 1854 he came to Groton in order to superintend 
a shoe factory that had just been started. It was or- 
ganized by Messrs. Bigelow T and Eandal), in a build- 
ing that had then only recently been given up as a 
tavern, and situated near the Congregational meeting- 
house. On December 19, 1855, the establishment 
was burned, and then the business was transferred to 
the building previously used as a bakery and situated 
at the corner of Main and West Streets. Here young 
Palmer remained until 1858, when, in partnership 
with his brother, he began the manufacture of shoes 
at Marlborough, where he continued until the break- 
ing out of the Rebellion in the spring of 1861. He 
then recruited a company of riflemen at Marlborough, 
and, on May 6th of that year, was commissioned as 
captain. In the mean time the quota of men asked 
for by President Lincoln was filled, and for that 
reason the company was not at once accepted, but 
was assigned afterward to the Fourth Battalion of 
Rifles, which became the nucleus of the Thirteenth 
Massachusetts Volunteers. On June 25th this or- 
ganization was ordered to garrison Fort Indepen- 
deuce, Boston Harbor, where it w r as soon recruited to 
ten companies ; and on July 16th Palmer was com- 
missioned as first lieutenant. On July 30th the regi- 



GEOTON. 245 

merit left for the seat of war, and, on August 16, 
1862, Lieutenant Palmer was promoted to a captaincy, 
although he had been in command of the company 
during most of the time since the regiment left Boston , 
In the campaign of 1862 he was in command through 
all the principal battles of the Army of the Potomac, 
notably the second battle of Bull Run, where he was 
wounded three times, — one of which wounds was a 
very severe one, a bullet passing through his neck 
and lower jaw, — and also slightly wounded at Fred- 
ericksburg. He took part in Bolivar Heights, Front 
Royal, Thoroughfare Gap, Chaucellorsville, and 
various other battles and skirmishes. 

During the fight at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, 
while in the First Corps (Reynolds'), he was severely 
shot in the right knee and crippled for life, and on 
March 9, 1864, was honorably discharged from the 
military service. Owing to this wound he has lost 
the entire use of his knee, and is compelled to walk 
on crutches. On May 10, 1866, for gallant and meri- 
torious services in the field, he was breveted major 
of volunteers. 

After his discharge from the army Captain Palmer 
returned to Groton, the home of his wife, and bought 
a farm, situated on the Great Road to Boston, about 
a mile from the village, where he now lives, much re- 
spected in the community. For twelve years (1877- 
89) he served the town as selectman, assessor and 
overseer of the poor, and for four years was the 
chairman of the board. He has been commander of 
E. S. Clark Post, No. 115, Grand Army of the Re- 
public; master of Grange No. 7, Patrons of Hus- 



246 GROTON. 

bandry ; an officer of the Groton Farmers' and 
Mechanics' Club, and a member of the Middlesex 
North Agricultural Society at Lowell, having been 
for many years one of its vice-presidents and trustees. 
He has been a justice of the peace since March 30, 
1881, and is now treasurer of the New England Milk 
Producers' Union. His success as a farmer shows 
what can be accomplished by skill and application, 
and furnishes a good example for young men to follow. 

Major Palmer was a member of the House during 
the session of 1884, and a member of the Senate dur- 
ing the sessions of 1888-90, a period of three years, 
a longer term of service than has ever been accorded 
to any other Senator from his district. 

On July 7, 1861, he was married to Martha Green, 
daughter of Joshua and Matilda (Prescott) Eaton, of 
Groton ; and they have one son and two daughters. 



CHARLES HARRISON WATERS. 1 

For a period of twenty-eight years, from 1855 to 
1883, Charles Harrison Waters was one of Groton's 
most capable, efficient and respected citizens. He pos- 
sessed in a marked degree the qualities which make a 
strong character ; and his usefulness was equal to his 
energy. 

He was the oldest son of Horace Waters and Ruth 
Hovey, of Millbury, Mass., where he was born July 
31, 1828. His school days were not protracted, end- 
ing with a term or two at an academy. At the age of 

1 By Rev. Joshua Young, D.D. 



GROTON. 247 

fifteen he was a factory boy ; at eighteen, an overseer 
in a mill, already with an aim in life, and to the end 
of his busy career he pursued, in the main, the way 
of his father before him, that of a successful manu- 
facturer. 

Dec. 21, 1854 he married Mary J. Farnsworth, 
daughter of James Farnsworth, of Groton, where, in 
the following year, he took up his residence, at first, 
on the Farnsworth estate in the west part of the vil- 
lage, and, subsequently, purchasing and remodeling 
for his occupancy the house owned by Mr. John Pea- 
body on Main Street (North). There were born to 
him three children, two of whom remain. 

Mr. Waters was a man of action ; his was an alert 
mind, his a ready hand. He could not be of the number 
of those " who merely exist in a state of benumbed tor- 
por, not finding it needful to be more than half awake." 
He must be up and doing. And so he worked and 
over-worked until he broke down. Warning came to 
him some five years before, and he gave it heed just 
long enough to make a flying trip to Europe, but only 
to gird on the harness again as soon as he got back. 

Mr. Waters had the genius of an inventor. Prob- 
lems of natural philosophy, physics, books of science 
had to him far more attraction than other subjects. 

He was still a young man only twenty-three when 
he went to Jewett City, Connecticut, and engaged in 
the manufacture of rope and twine, introducing origi- 
nal methods. Much of the machinery now in use in 
the extensive works of the Clinton Wire-cloth Com- 
pany (of which he was first the agent, then the general 
manager, then vice-president, and finally president, 



248 GROTON. 

which office he held at the time of his decease) was of 
his invention. 

In prosecuting the new enterprise known as the 
Avery Lactate Company, and while personally super- 
intending the construction of the building at Little- 
ton, from the walls of which he was descending when 
attacked by paralysis, he either made himself, or 
caused to be made, some important and original in- 
vestigations in chemistry. Had his life been spared 
it is not impossible that this business venture would 
have been successful. 

Undoubtedly the quality .of efficiency would be 
mentioned as his chief mental characteristic. By vir- 
tue of his natural executive ability it was his right to 
lead — not simply to have his own way, but to have 
things done and well done. He used his power for good. 
And underneath that large, forceful brain there was 
also an equally large and benevolent heart. The charity 
that emanated from his house was widely recognized, 
his own kindness of heart being seconded by that of his 
estimable wife. As a citizen, he was public-spirited in 
an eminent degree. He was in favor of improvements, 
whether it was to have better schools or better roads. 
In the beautiful village of his residence, whatever gives 
attractiveness to the place, or character and dignity to 
the people, is due as much to his personal effort as to 
that of any other man of his generation. His relig- 
ious affiliation was with the Unitarians. His atten- 
dance on the ministrations of the house of God was as 
regular and constant as the return of the Sabbath. 
His mind recognized a Supreme Intelligence, and 
bowed with reverence and adoration to an authority 

" Enthroned above the reach of sight." 



GROTON. 



•249 



For several years he was the president of the North 
Middlesex Conference of Unitarian and other Chris- 
tian churches. He died March 13, 1883, aged fifty- 
four years. 

A unique monument of his own design marks his 
resting-place in the village cemetery. 



LUTHER BLOOD. 

Luther Blood was born at Groton, October 21, 
1810, and is a son of Luther and Sally (Cook) 
Blood. His grandfather, Caleb, married Hannah 
Holden, November 1, 1753, and Elizabeth Farns- 
worth, March 3, 1774. He had twenty-seven chil- 
dren, of whom Luther was the twenty-fifth. Eliza- 
beth' the grandmother, was a member of the old 
Farns worth family, whose name was among the first 
settlers of the town. Caleb was born November 23, 
1734, and was the son of John and Joanna (Nutting) 
Blood, who were married July 13, 1712. The first 
ancestor in Groton of Luther Blood was probably 
James, who was one of four by the name of Blood 
who early went to the township and became original 
proprietors, and are mentioned as petitioners for a 
plantation at that place. The family name is a fa- 
miliar one ; and while some who bear it have become 
widely scattered in the land, there have yet been 
those who have continued it in Groton and the adjacent 
places, which were formerly a part of the ancient 
town. The old homestead, where the subject of this 
sketch was born, is situated in West Groton, near 
Fitch's Bridge. It is on the west side of the Nashua 



250 GROTON. 

River, and is now owned and occupied by Augustus 
Blood, a brother of Luther. This estate has for many- 
years been in the possession of the Blood family. 
The grandfather of Luther came into possession of it 
when it was wilderness land, and by his industry and 
thrift it became a smiling homestead, where succes- 
sive generations of the family have been reared. On 
this farm the subject of this sketch spent his early 
years, where his life was in accord with the customs 
and ways of the rural and sparsely-peopled places of 
our old New England towns. There was plenty of 
hard, rough work on the farm, and that substantial 
and wholesome fare, which may have been a condi- 
tion of the robust health which he, at his advanced 
age, now enjoys. The education he received was at 
the humble school-house in what is still known as 
District No. 4, and consisted in what could be ob- 
tained in a course of six or eight weeks each year. 

At the age of eighteen he left home and learned 
the carpenter's trade. Two school buildings still 
stand which were erected under his supervision, and 
which, by their contrast, suggest the rapid improve- 
ment in our educational means. One of these is a 
small, unoccupied, brick school-house, in District 
No. 4, built in 1835 ; the other the beautiful Law- 
rence Academy, erected in 1870. 

May 2, 1844, Mr. Blood married Sarah Park Stone, 
of South Groton, now the town of Ayer. Miss Stone's 
birthplace was about a mile from Ayer Junction ; but 
her later home was the "Stone Place," on the old 
road from Ayer to Groton. Mr. and Mrs. Blood have 
no children. Their residence is pleasantly situated 



GROTON. 251 

on High Street, near the Lawrence Academy and the 
Unitarian Church. Mr. Blood was an old-time Whig, 
till the breaking up of that party, since which time 
he has been a Republican. His habits have been 
simple and regular. He has been temperate and in- 
dustrious, and bears the marks of well-developed 
old age. 



SAMUEL A. GREEN. 1 

Samuel Abbott Green was born in Groton, Mass., 
March 16, 1830. He graduated at Harvard in 1851. 
After receiving his medical degree, in 1854, he spent 
several years in Europe. On his return he began the 
practice of his profession in Boston. May 19, 1858, 
he was appointed by Governor Banks surgeon of the 
Second Massachusetts Militia Regiment, and at the 
breaking out of the Rebellion he entered the service 
as assistant surgeon of the First Massachusetts Regi- 
ment, and was the first medical officer in the Com- 
monwealth mustered in for three years' service. Sep- 
tember 2, 1861, Dr. Green was promoted to surgeon of 
the Twenty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment, a posi- 
tion which he occupied until November 2, 1864. 
During this time he was on the stafis of various cavalry 
officers. On the Burnside expedition to Roanoke he 
had charge of the hospital-ship l< Recruit," and later, 
of the hospital-ship " Cosmopolitan," on the South 
Carolina coast. He was also chief medical officer at 
Morris Island during the siege of Fort Wagner. 
He was appointed post-surgeon at Jacksonville and 

i By the Editor. 



252 GKOTON. 

St. Augustine, Fla., in October, 1863, and from this 
point went to Virginia, and was with the army when 
Bermuda Hundred w T as taken. After the' surrender of 
Richmond Dr. Green was appointed acting staff-sur- 
geon in that city, where he remained three months. 

In 1862 he was successful in organizing Roanoke 
Cemetery, one of the first regular burial-places for 
Union soldiers, which was dedicated, with appropri- 
ate ceremonies on February 23, 1862. Dr. Green was 
faithful to his trust, and those characteristics which 
have marked his later life shone resplendent in the 
service, and in 1864, for gallant and distinguished 
services in the field, he was breveted lieutenant-col- 
onel of volunteers. 

At the close of the war he returned to Boston, where 
he has filled various positions of trust and responsi- 
bility. From 1865 to 1872 he was superintendent of 
the Boston Dispensary. He was a member of the 
Boston School Board in 1860, '62, '66 and 72 ; trustee 
of the Boston Public Library from 1868 to '78, and 
acting librarian from October, 1877, to October, 1878. 
In 1870 he was appointed by Governor Claflin on the 
commission to care for disabled soldiers. He was 
city physician from 1871 to 1880, and also, in 1878, 
he was chosen a member of the board of experts, 
authorized by Congress to investigate the yellow fever. 
He is now serving his fourth term as an Overseer of 
Harvard College, and is also one of the trustees of 
the Peabody Education Fund, which was established 
by the late George Peabody for educational purposes 
at the South. 

In 1882 Dr. Green was elected mayor of Boston. 



GROTON. 203 

While Dr. Green has been active and prominent in 
the affairs of Boston generally, the distinguishing 
feature of his career, perhaps, is the time and research 
he has given to historical studies, and the various 
works which he has prepared and printed — many of 
them privately — form an invaluable addition to the 
historic literature of the Commonwealth. 

Among his works may be mentioned the following : 
"My Campaigns in America," a journal kept by 
Comte William de Deux Ponts, 1780-81 ; translated 
from the French manuscript, with an introduction 
and notes (Boston, 1868) ; "An Account of Percival 
and Ellen Green and Some of their Descendants," 
(printed privately, Groton, Mass., 1876); "Epitaphs 
from the Old Burying-Ground in Groton, Mass." 
(1879); "The Early Records of Groton, Mass, 1662- 
1677" (1880); " History of Medicine in Massachu- 
setts," a centennial address delivered before the Mas- 
sachusetts Medical Society, June 7, 1881 (Boston, 
1881); "Groton during the Indian Wars" (Groton, 
1883); " Groton during the Witchcraft Times " (1883); 
" The Boundary Lines of Old Groton " (1885) ; " The 
Geography of Groton," preserved for the use of the 
Appalachian (Mountain) Club (1886); "Groton His- 
torical Series," thirty-seven numbers, 1883-1890, and 
the " History of Groton," in this work. 



INDEX 



ADAMS, Amos, 195. 
Adams, Augustus, 203. 
Adams, James, 190. 
Adams, James, Jr., 190. 
Adams, Dea. Jonathan Stow, 168. 
Adams, Dr. Joseph, 187. 
Aldrich, Rev. Jeremiah Knight, 84. 
Alexander, Amos, 192, 202. 
Alexander's Tavern, 192. 
Allen, Rev. John, 87. 
Ames, Jacob, 59, 62. 
Ames, John, 50, 58. 
Ames, Simeon, 195. 
Andruss, Theodore, 173, 179. 
Appleton, Hon. Nathan, 199. 
Archibald, Adams, 181. 
Austin, John, 202. 
Ayer, Rev. Oliver, 88. 



BABCOCK, Rev. John Martin 
Luther, 79. 
Baldwin, Loammi, Jr., 206. 
Baldwin, Prof. Marvin Morse, 11. 
Ball, Micah, 204. 
Bancroft, Abel, 159. 
Bancroft, Dr. Amos, 101, 175. 
Bancroft, Dr. Amos Bigelow, 107. 
Bancroft, Dea. Benjamin, 92, 160, 

161, 185. 
Bancroft, Edmund Dana, 132. 
Bancroft, William Austin, 138. 
Banks, William, 153. 
Baptist Society, organization of, 

86. 
Bard well, Otis, 203. 
Barron, Elias, 60. 
Barstow, Rev. John, 85. 
Bernard, Gov. Francis, 149. 



Bigelow, Hon. John Prescott, 138. 
Bigelow, Hon. Timothy, 92, 118, 

127, 129, 135, 189. 
Bixby, George Henry, 181. 
Blanehard, James, 120, 157, 159. 
Blasdell, Dr. Henry, 95. 
Blood, Abraham, 143. 
Blood, Charles, 209. 
Blood, Edmund, 181. 
Blood, Joseph, 24. 
Blood, Luther, sketch of, 249. 
Blood, Richard, 157, 158. 
Blood, Timothy, 131. 
Boiden, Jonathan, 160. 
Boutwell, Hon. George Sewall, 131, 

133, 134, 159, 166, 173, 178. 
Bowers Inn, the, 186. 
Bowers, Isaac, 170. 
Bowers, Samuel, 171. 
Bowers, Samuel, Jr. , 186 
Bowker, Daniel D. R., 196. 
Boynton, Calvin, 160, 161, 162. 
Boynton, Hon. John, 6, 118, 130, 

i31, 159. 
Bradstreet, Rev. Dudley, 73. 
Brazer, James, 92, 93, 130, 164, 165. 
Bnizer, AVillam Farwell, 137, 165. 
Briggs, Charles, 203. 
Brigham, George Dexter, 159. 
Brooks, Daniel, 191, 203. 
Brown, Maj. Aaron, 92, 129, 

165, 169. 
Brown, Artemas, 192. 
Brown, Frank, 203. 
Brown, George, 203. 
Brown, George Henry, 14, 132, 

173, 179, 182. 
Brown, Horace, 192, 203. 
Brown, Ira, 203. 



148, 



133, 



256 



INDEX. 



Bulklev. Rev. Edwin Adolphus,83. 

Bulkley, John, 185, 186. 

Bullard, Hon. Henry Adams, 138. 

Bullard, Isaac, 203. 

Bullard, Silas, 204. 

Bunker Hill, Groton in the battle 

of, 143. 
Burgess, Silas, 203. 
Burns, George James, 147. 
Butler, Caleb, 130, 159, 173, 177, 

211. 
But-trick, Jonathan, 203. 
Buttrick, Tilly, 194. 



CADY, Joseph, 184. 
Cady, Nicholas, 218. 

Camp Stevens, 144, 145. 

Capell, John, 167, 195. 

Capell, the Misses, 167. 

Carle ton, John, 204. 

Carleton, Moses, 169. 

Carleton, Walter, 204. 

Carrier-wagons, 205. 

Carter, Kev. Samuel, 72. 

Central House, 188. 

Chamberlain, Dr. Edson Champion, 
116. 

Chamberlain, John, 60, 63, 64. 

Champney, Ebeuezer, 129. 

Champney, Francis, 92. 

Chaplin, Rev. Daniel, 75, 81, 92. 

Charlestown, N. H., 66. 

Chase, Benjamin, 185. 

Chase, Dr. Ezekiel, 95. 

Chase, John, 204. 

Child, David, 138, 168. 

Child, Ephraim, 18. 

Childs, William, 192. 

Clark, Mai. Eusebius Silsby, 138, 
147. 

Clark, Captain Josiah, 86. 

Cobbet, Rev. Thomas, 33. 

Coburn, David, 204. 

Colburn, James, Jr., 186. 

Colburn, James Minot, 188. 

Connecticut Historical Society, col- 
lections of, 8. 

Coolidge, Dr. Joseph Franklin, 

Cooper, Timothy, 28, 33. 
Corbin, Stephen, 204. 
Corey, Aaron, 203. 
Corey, Calvin, 203. 
Corey, Chambers, 144. 



Coroners, list of, 137. 

Cotton, Rev. John, 37. 

Crispe, Benjamin, 42. 

Cummings, Allen, 132. 

Cummings, Dr. James Merrill, 108 

Curtis, Beriah,204. 

Cushing, Leonard Williams, 203. 

Cutler, Jonas, 163. 

Cutts, Joseph, 145. 



DANA, James, 213. 
Dana, Hon. Samuel, 118, 129, 

130, 134, 135, 150, 173, 175, 194, 

213. 
Dana, Rev. Samuel, 75, 92, 187. 
Dana, William, 203. 
Danforth, Jonathan, 217. 
Danforth, Kimball, 203. 
Danforth, Thomas, 18, 148. 
Davis, Dolor, 5. 
Davis, Joel, 235. 
Davis, John, 46. 
Davis, Dr. Kendall, 111. 
Davis, Nathan, 92. 
Dickinson, Thomas, 23. 
Dickson, Walter, 46. 
Dix, Benjamin Perkins, 164, 170. 
Dodge, James, 144. 
Domesday Book, 11, 12. 
Downing, Emanuel, 9. 
Drew, Thomas, 39. 
Dudley, Gov. Joseph, 53. 
Dudley, Paul, 136. 
Dummer, Lieut.-Gov. Wm., 58. 



EDES, Isaiah, 161. 
Edes, Peter, 137. 
Eldredge, Dr. Micah, 104. 
Emerson, Dearborn, 189, 190, 191, 

200. 
Emerson Tavern, the, 187. 
Emory, Thomas, 204. 
Episcopal Church, 91. 
Everett, Israel, 96. 



FARNSWORTH, Abel, 137. 
Farnsworth, Dr. Amos, 106, 
172,211. 
Farnsworth, David, 66. 
Farnswcrth, Ebenezer, 67. 
Farnsworth, Ebenezer, Jr., 172. 
Farnsworth, Ephraim, 62. 



INDEX. 



257 



Farms-worth, Ezra, 185, 186. 
Farnsworth, Harriet Elizabeth , 173, 

179. 
Farnsworth, Dea. Isaac, 126, 129, 

137, 159, 185. 
Farnsworth, Ensign John, 123. 
Farnsworth, Jonas, 172. 
Farnsworth, Marquis D., 190. 
Farnsworth, Matthias, Jr., 45, 51. 
Farnsworth, Reuben, 62. 
Farnsworth, Dr. Samuel, 66, 97. 
Farnsworth, Stephen, 66, 67. 
Farnsworth, Thomas Treadwell, 

187. 
Farnum, David, 171. 
Farr, Kimball, 193. 
Farrar, Stephen, 194. 
Farwell, Capt. Henry, 143. 
Farwell, Isaac, 68. 
Fassett, Lieut. Amaziah, 143. 
Fawcett, Abiel, 204. 
Fawcett, Nathan, 204. 
Fire Club, 210 ; list of founders of, 

212. 
Fire Department, 206. 
First Parish Meeting-house, 1 ; 

separation of Second Church 

from, 81. 
Fisk, James, 158, 223. 
Fisk, Peter, 144. 

Fiske, George Washington, 173, 179. 
Fitch, Zechariah, 40, 92. 
Fletcher, Oliver. 126. 
Flint, George, 202. 
Folsom, Rev. George McKean, 79. 
Ford, Capt. John, 156. 
Fosdick, Christina Dakin, 180. 
Foster, John, 2. 
Foster, Stephen, 144. 
Fox, Isaac J.. 192. 
Frontenac, Count de, 36. 
Fulham [Fullam], Francis, 137,154. 
Fuller, Abel Hamilton, 204. 
Fuller, Dr. Lemuel, 110. 
Fuller, Micah, 68. 
Fuller, Hon. Timothy, 128. 
Fuzzard, John, 194. 



GARDNER, Andrew Boynton, 
182. 
Gardner, Maj. Thomas, 130, 164. 
Garrison-houses, 27- 
Gates, George Samuel, 132, 162. 



General Court, list of representa- 
tives to, 118. 

Geography of Groton. 217. 

George, Horace, 197, 203. 

Gerrish, Charles, lt',7. 

Gerrish, Charles Hastings, 6. 

Gill, Moses, 187, 192, 193. 

Gilson, John, 60, 209, 210. 

Gilson, John M., 192. 

Gilson, Capt. Jonas, 167. 

Gilson, Joseph, 60. 

Gleany, William, 171. 

Globe Tavern, the, 192. 

Goddard, Mrs. Delano A., 188. 

Goffe, Col. Edmund, 95. 

Goodwin, Rev. Thomas Herbert, 89. 

Gove, Dr. Jonathan, 97. 

Graves, George Sumner, 133, 209, 
210. 

Green, Charles W., 210. 

Green, Eleazer, 184. 

Green, Ira, 203. 

Green, Dr. Joshua, 103, 131. 

Green, Dr. Samuel A., letter from 
Hon. J. Hammond Trumbull, 6 ; 
letter from Hon. Robert C. Win- 
throp, 9 ; delivers address at 
dedication of monument com- 
memorating first meeting-house, 
34; sketch of Hon. Moses P. 
Palmer, 243 ; sketch of, 251. 

Green, William, 156. 

Greene, Isaac, 185. 

Groton Academy, 91. 

Groton, in other States, 10-11. 

Groton, Mass., geographical posi- 
tion of, 1 ; original grant of 
township, 2 : earliest reference 
made to, 2 ; petition to General 
Court for plantation of, 4, 5; 
Indian derivation of name, 6 ; 
spelling of name, 13, 14; life of 
early settlers, 14 ; first document 
concerning, 15 : trials of early 
settlers, 21 ; early history of, 27 ; 
monument erected to commem- 
orate first meeting-house, 33 ; 
ministers, 68-90; formation of 
Second Church, 81; Lawrence 
Academy, 92-94; physicians, 
94-117 ; list of representatives 
to General Court, 118-133 ; resi- 
dents who held commissions, 
136 ; coroners, 137 ; prominent 
natives and residents, 138-141; 



258 



INDEX. 



part taken in the Revolution, 
142-144 ; part taken in the bat- 
tle of Bunker Hill, 143; part 
taken in the War for the Union, 
144_147; Camp Stevens, 144; 
population at different times, 147- 
153 ; slavery in the town, 153- 
157 ; list of town clerks, 157-159 ; 
list of treasurers, 160-162 ; old 
stores, 162-171 ; military com- 
panies, 167 ; post-office, 171-183 ; 
list of postmasters, 173 ; tele- 
graph and telephone established, 
183 ; old taverns, 183 ; stage- 
coaches, 196; fire department, 
206 : fire-club, 210 ; starch-fac- 
tory, paper mills, etc., 213; ge- 
ography, 217 ; biographical 
sketches of prominent men, 236- 
253. 

Groton School, 46, 91. 

Gulick, Rev. Edward Leeds, 86. 



HALE, Samuel, 165. 
Hall, Isaiah, 187. 
Hall, Joseph, 187. 
Hall, Hon. Willard, 139. 
Hancock, Rev. John, 72. 
Harlow, William Holmes, 182. 
Harrington, Phineas, 201. 
Harris, Hon. John, 139. 
Hartwell, Dr. Benjamin Hall, 117. 
Hartwell, Jephthah Richardson, 

214. 
Hauthorne, William, 217. 
Hayden, Albert, 203. 
Hazen, Samuel, 233. 
Healy, Nathaniel, 47, 48. 
Hemenway, Daniel P., 147. 
Hemenway, Joseph, 168. 
Hemenway, Phineas, 168. 
Hemenway, Samuel, 92. 
High School, 180. 

Hildreth, Hon. Abijah Edwin, 118. 
Hill, Gen. Albert Harleigh, 10. 
Hill, Charles Henry, 181. 
Hill, Henrv, 169. 
Hills, Joseph, 15. 
Hinckley, Thomas, 5. 
Hoar, Joseph, 187, 192. 202. 
Hoar, Joseph Nelson, 188. 
Hoar's Tavern, 192. 
Hobart, Rev. Gershom, 37, 46, 71, 

189. 



Hobart [Hubbard], Israel, 129, 137, 

161. 
Hobart, Shebuel, 160. 
Hobart, Simon, 144. 
Hodgkins, Hiram, 203. 
Hodgkins, Ira, 203. 
Holden, Charles, 68. 
Holden, Isaac, 68. 
Holden, Stephen, 44. 
Hollingsworth, J. M., 215. 
Hollingsworth, Lyman, 214, 215, 

216. 
Holmes, Rev. Lewis, 87. 
Holt, John, 202. 
Homer, Rev. Jonathan, 47. 
Hough, Dr. Franklin B., 56. 
Howe, Benjamin Lincoln, 138. 
Howe, Oliver, 215. 
Hubbard, John, 33. 
Hubbard, Jonathan, 184, 185. 
Hubbard, Rev. William, 2, 32, 149. 
Hunt, Daniel, 188. 
Hunt, George, 203. 
Hutchinson, Gov. Thomas, 36,55. 



INDIANS, 22, 24, 34, 39, 45, 47, 
48, 58. 
See Philip's War. 
Indian Queen Inn, 200. 
" Indian Roll," 119. 



J EFTS, John, 60. 
Jenkins, Ann, 39. 
Jenkins, Jonathan, 144. 
Jennison, Martin, 194. 
Jewett, Newell M., 194. 
Johnson, Anson, 204. 
Johnson, Capt. Edward, 18. 
Johnson, Mrs. Susanna, 67. 
Johnson, William, 204. 



KEEP, Lieut. Jonathan, 159, 
161, 187. 
Kemp, David, 144. 
Kemp, James, 195. 
Kemp, Moses, 190. 
Kemp, William, 190. 
Kemp, William, Jr., 204. 
Kendall, Hon. Amos, 180. 
Kendall, Obadiah, 203. 
Kilbourn, Jeremiah, 166. 
King William's War, 35. 



INDEX. 



"J.V.i 



Kittredge, Rev. Charles Baker, 82. 
Knapp, Elizabeth, 94. 
Knapp [Knop], James, 219. 
Knox Manuscripts, 43. 



I AKIN, Isaac, 51, 60, 65. 
J Lakin, John, 234. 

Lakin, Joseph, 120, 158, 159. 

Lakin, Lemuel, 191,203. 

Lakin, Oliver, 171. 

Lakin [Larkin], Lieut. William, 25, 
36,40,171 

Lawrence, Hon. Abbott, 139, sketch 
of, 236. 

Lawrence, Capt. Abel, 124, 137, 159. 

Lawrence Academy, 91 ; early bene- 
factors of, 92 ; Jubilee celebra- 
tion of, 93. 

Lawrence, Amos, 92, 93, 126, 137, 
165, 185. 

Lawrence, Capt. Asa Stillman, 133, 
138,143,170. 

Lawrence, Rev. Benjamin Franklin, 
89, 169. 

Lawrence, Enoch, 50. 

Lawrence, Henry Lewis, 187, 193, 
204. 

Lawrence, Houghton, 203. 

Lawrence, James, 51, 185, 186. 

Lawrence, Jonathan, 171. 

Lawrence, Hon. Luther, 127, 130, 
135, 177, 190. 

Lawrence, Nathaniel, 25, 119, 122. 

Lawrence, Samuel, 92, 137, 159. 

Lawrence, Thomas, 160. 

Lawrence, William, 172, 185. 

Lawrence, Col. William, 76, 92, 93, 
124, 133, 136, 137. 

Leverett, Pres. John, 74. 

Lewis, Aaron, 190, 195. 

Lewis, Benjamin, 204. 

Lewis, Capt. James, 167, 173, 176. 

Lewis, James, Jr., 137. 

Lewis, Jonathan Clark, 170. 

Light, Reflection of, 235. 

Livermore, William, 130, 160. 

Livermore, William, Jr., 131, 132, 
162. 

Locke, Hon. John, 139. 

Longlev, Dea. John, 37, 42, 123, 
124, 158, 159, 160. 

Longley, Joshua, 92. 

Longley, Lydia, 43, 51. 



Longley, William, 40, 41, 119, 158, 

228. 
Longley, William, Jr., 21, 157, 158, 

159. 
Lord, James, 203. 
Loring, John Hancock, 193, 194. 
Loring, Jonathan, 207. 
Lothrop, Capt. Welcome, 173, 179. 
Lovewell, Capt. John, 59, 64, 222. 



McCOLLESTER, Dr. John 
tiuincy Adams, 116, 138. 

Manning, Samuel, 171. 

Mansfield, Dr. George, 101. 

Mansfield, Dr. Joseph, 100, 159. 

Mark, John, 215. 

Marshall, Abel, 203. 

Marshall, John, 45. 

Martin, Lieut. William, petition of, 
3,5,6. 

Martin, William, 219. 

Massachusetts Historical Society, 
45. 47, 150. 

Mather, Cotton, 35, 43. 

Mather, Rev. Increase, 30, 33. 

Maynard, John M., 202. 

Means, Rev. James, delivers ad- 
dress at Jubilee celebration of 
Lawrence Academy, 94. 

Meeting-house, First Parish, 1 ; 
monument erected to commemo- 
rate, 33. 

Methodist Church, 90. 

Miles, Hezekiah, 39. 

Military Companies, 167. 

Miller, Rev. John, 68. 

Ministers, John Miller, 68 ; Samuel 
Willard, 69; Gershom Hobart, 
71 ; Samuel Carter, 72 ; John 
Odly IC-dliu], 73 ; Dudley Brad- 
street, 73 ; Caleb Trowbridge, 
74 ; Samuel Dana, 75 ; Daniel 
Chaplin, 75 ; Charles Robinson, 
76 ; George Wadsworth Wells, 
77 ; Joseph Couch Smith, 77 ; 
Crawford Nightingale, 78 ; George 
McKean Folsom, 79 ; John Mar- 
tin Luther Babcock, 79 ; Joshua 
Young, 80 ; John Todd, 82 ; 
Charles Baker Kittredge, 82 ; 
Dudley Phelps, 83 ; Edwin Adol- 
phus Bulkley, 83; William 
Wheeler Parker, 84 ; Jeremiah 
Knight Aldrich, 84; Benjamin 



200 



INDEX. 



Adams Robie, 85; George Austin 
Pelton, 85; John Barstow, 85; 
Edward Leeds Gulick, 86 ; Amasa 
Sanderson, 86 ; Alfred Pinney, 
86 ; Lewis Holmes, 87 ; John 
Allen, 87 ; George Everett Tucker, 
87 ; Lucius Edwin Smith, 88 ; 
Oliver Ayer, 88 ; Benjamin Frank- 
lin Lawrence, 89 ; Herman Frank- 
lin Titus, 89 ; Thomas Herbert 
Goodwin, 89 ; Frank Curtis Whit- 
ney, 89 ; Samuel Bastin Nobbs, 
90. 

Moore, Abraham, 173, 176. 

Moore, Dr. James Moodv, 117. 

Moores, Abraham, 157, 185, 186. 

Moors, Benjamin, 187, 228. 

Moors, Joseph, 92, 129, 130, 155. 

Mors, Nathan, 184. 

Morse, Dr. Benjamin, 95, 129, 135. 

Morse, John, 32, 33, 158, 223. 

Morse, Jonathan, 157, 158. 

My rick, John. 47. 



NAME, Indian derivation of, 6 ; 
originator of, 8 ; spelling of, 
13, 14. 
Nash, Joshua, 210. 
Needham, Hon. Daniel, 118, 132, 

162. 
New England Historic Genealogical 

Society, 15, 18, 43. 
Nicholas, Amos, 203. 
Nightingale, Rev. Crawford, 78. 
Nobbs, Rev. Samuel Bastin, 90. 
Noyes, Thomas, 217. 
Nutting, John, 27,28, 29, 33. 



o 



DLY [Odlin], John, 7i 



PAGE, John, 24, 119, 122, 158. 
Paine, Robert Treat, 70. 
Palmer, Hon. Moses Poor, 118, 133; 

sketch of, 243. 
Paper Mills, 213. 
Paris, John, 122. 
Parish, Robert, 24. 
Park, John Gray, 131, 135, 159. 
Park, Hon. Stuart James, 118. 
Parker, Abigail, 171. 
Parker, Addison, 204. 



Parker, Benjamin, 62. 

Parker, Ebenezer, 171. 

Parker, Lieut. Isaac, 66, 67. 

Parker, Jacob Lakin, 137. 

Parker, Capt. James, 25, 119, 120, 
122, 157, 158, 160, 185, 218, 223, 
224, 226. 

Parker, James, Jr., 37. 

Parker, John Warren, 131, 159. 

Parker, Jonas, 191. 

Parker, Joseph, 20, 223. 

Parker, Josiah, 158, 159, '222. 

Parker, Levi, 193. 

Parker, Robert, 144. 

Parker, Capt. Samuel, 171, 184, 185. 

Parker, Rev. William Wheeler, 84. 

Parsons, Dr. John Eleazer, 116. 

Patterson, James, 184. 

Peabody, John, 162. 

Peai-se, Daniel, 227. 

Pelton, Rev. George Austin, 85. 

Penhallow, Samuel, 44, 58. 

Petitions, Deane Winthrop's, 3 ; 
Lieutenant William Martin's, 3, 
4, 5; entry in General Court 
Records regarding, 6 ; record of 
House of Deputies, 6 ; first docu- 
ment to General Court, 15 ; John 
Tinker's, 16. 

Phelps, Kev. Dudley, 83. 

Phelps, Levi W., 196. 

Philip's War, 2, 23, 24, 27, 29-33. 

Physicians, Amos Bancroft, 101 ; 
Amos Bigelow Bancroft, 107 ; 
Henry Blasdell, 95 ; Edson Cham- 
pion Chamberlain. 116 ; Ezekiel 
Chase, 95 ; Joseph Franklin Cool- 
idge, 112 ; James Merrill Cum- 
mings, 108 ; Kendall Davis, 111 ; 
Micah Eldredge, 104; Samuel 
Farnsworth, 97; Lemuel Fuller, 
110 ; Jonathan Gove, 97 ; Joshua 
Green, 103 ; Benjamin Hall Hart- 
well, 117 ; John Quincy Adams 
McCollester, 116 ; George Mans- 
field, 101 ; Joseph Mansfield, 100 ; 
James Moody Moore, 117 ; Ben- 
jamin Morse, 95 ; John Eleazer 
Parsons, 116 ; Peter Pineo, 111 ; 
Richard Upton Piper. Ill ; Oliver 
Prescott, 92, 98 ; Oliver Prescott, 
Jr., 98,100; Marion Zachariah 
Putnam, 114; Rufus Shackford, 
109; Gibson Smith, 116; Nor, 
man Smith, 109 ; Miles Spauld- 



INDEX. 



261 



ing, 110 ; George Steams, 106 ; 
George Washington Stearns, 113 ; 
David Roscoe Steere, 113 ; Eph- 
raim Ware, 96 ; William Bar- 
nard Warren, 114 ; William 
Ambrose Webster, 112 ; Abel 
Hervey Wilder, 108 ; Jacob Wil- 
liams, 105 ; Ebenezer Willis, 115 ; 
James Wilson, 105; Edward Hub- 
bard Winslow, 113; Ephraim 
Woolson. 96. 

Pierce, George, 172. 

Pike, Barney, 204. 

Pike, Rev. John, 47. 

Pineo, Dr. Peter, 111. 

Pinnev, Rev. Alfred, 86. 

Piper, Dr. Richard Upton, 111. 

Pollard, Jacob, 138. 

Population, 147-153. 

Porter, John Mason, 138. 

Post-Office, 171-183. 

Post-rider, 172. 

Potter, Luther Fitch, 195. 

Prescott, Abel, 196. 

Prescott, Abijah, 168. 

Prescott, Lieut. Benjamin, 123, 124, 
136, 143, 160. 

Prescott, Charles, 194. 

Prescott, Hon. James, 118, 125, 126, 
127, 129, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 
211. 

Prescott, Hon. James, Jr., 135, 
136. 

Prescott, Jonas, 123, 157, 159. 

Prescott, Capt. Jonas, Jr. , 123, 136. 

Prescott, Dr. Oliver, 92, 98, 126, 130, 
133, 134, 136, 159, 210. 

Prescott, Dr. Oliver, Jr., 98, 100, 
159, 210. 

Prescott, Phinehas Gilman, 131, 
133 

Prescott, Col. William, 92, 98, 143, 
144. 

Priest, Eleazer, 68. 

Priest, Joseph, 68. 

Proctor, Wilder, 204, 

Putnam, Dr. Marion Zachariah, 
114. 



Q 



UEEN Anne's War, 44, 49. 



"OAILROADS, 115. 

Iv Rawson, Edward, 3, 5, 18. 

Rebellion, War of, see Union, War 
for. 

Reed, Ralph, 219. 

Representatives to General Court, 
list of, 118. 

Revolution, Groton in the war of 
the, 142-144. 

Rice, Hon. Thomas, 140. 

Richardson, Alpheus, 161, 168. 

Richardson, Amos, 5. 

Richardson, Converse, 189. 

Richardson, Capt. Jephthah, 189. 

Richardson, Hon. William Mer- 
chant, 134, 140, 173, 175. 

Richardson Tavern, the, 189, 191. 

Ridge Hill Tavern, the, 193. 

Robbins, Andrew, 208. 

Rob! ins, Eleazer, 154, 184. 

Robbins, Levi, 203. 

Roberts, Stephen, 196. 

Robie, Rev. Benjamin Adams, 85. 

Robinson, Rev. Charles, 76. 

Rockwood, Capt. John, 130. 

Rockwood, Samuel, 92, 157, 159. 

Rockwood, Mrs. Sarah (Chaplin), 
76. 

Rogers, Rev. Ezekiel, 68. 

Rouse, Alexander, 37. 

Rowe, Samuel William, 170. 

Russ, John, 202. 

Russell, Ephraim, 137. 



ST. JOHN'S Chapel, 91. 
Sanderson, Rev.-Amasa, 86. 
Sartel, Nathaniel, 159. 
Sartell, Jonathan, 186. 
Sartell, Capt. Josiah, 126, 143, 185, 

186. 
Sawtell, Capt. Ephraim, 160, 161. 
Sawtell, Capt. John, 143. 
Sawtell [Sartlel, Capt. Nathaniel, 

122-124, 136, 160. 
Sawtell, Obadiah, 66, 68. 
Sawtell, Richard, 28, 157, 158, 224. 
Sawyer, Capt. Wesley Caleb, 145, 

146. 
Scales, Oliver, 203. 
Scripture, Samuel, Jr., 155. 
Second Adventists, 169. 
Second Church, formation of, 81. 
Seger, Ebenezer, 47, 48. 
Settlers, early, 14 ; trials of, 21 



262 



INDEX. 



Sewall, Chief-Justice Samuel, 37, 

44. 
Shackford, Dr. Rufus, 109. 
Shattuck, Capt. Daniel, 131, 162, 

190. 
Shattuck, Francis, 191. 
Shattuck, Frank, 204. 
Shattuck, George, 160, 162. 
Shattuck, Joel, 204. 
Shattuck, John, 49, 50. 
Shattuck Manuscripts, 15, 18. 
Shattuck, Milo Henry, 168, 190. 
Shattuck, Capt. Noah, 130, 156, 

159, 167. 
Shattuck, Samuel, 62. 
Shattuck's Tavern, 192. 
Shattuck, Walter, 160, 162, 169, 

170, 208. 
Shattuck, William, 131, 133, 204. 
Shed, Joseph, 159, 161. 
Sheedy, John H., 166. 
Shepard, William, 201. 
Sheple, Jonathan, 157, 159, 185. 
Sheple, Joseph, 135. 
Sheple, Oliver, 213. 
Sheple, Oliver. Jr., 213. 
Sheple, Washington, 213. 
Shepley, Hon. Ether, 38, 140. 
Shepley, Gen. George Foster, 38. 
Shepley [Sheple], John, 37, 41, 122, 

123. 
Shepley, Capt. Samuel, 3. 
Shepley, Washington, 205. 
Shepley, Wilder, 190. 
Shepley, William, 190. 
Sherman, Rev. John, 70. 
Shumway, Eliel, 132. 
Simpson, Maj. Daniel, 190. 
Slavery in Groton, 153-157. 
Smart, William, 203. 
Smith, Dr. Gibson, 116. 
Smith, Rev. Joseph Couch, 77. 
Smith, Rev. Lucius Edwin, 88. 
Smith, Nathaniel Pierce, 195. 
Smith, Dr. Norman, 109. 
Smith, Richard, 5. 
Smith, Hon. Samuel Emerson, 140. 
South Groton, Mass, 182; list of 

post-masters, 182. 
Spalter, John Hamilton, 168, 189. 
Spaulding, Joseph, 185. 
Spaulding, Dr. Miles, 110. 
Spaulding, Timothy, 189. 
Stage-coaches, 196. 
Stamp Act, 141. 



Staples, Gen. Thomas Adams, 169, 

202. 
Starch-Factory, 213. 
Starling, Samuel, 172. 
Stearns, Hon. Asahel, 141. 
Stearns, Dr. George, 106. 
Steurns, Dr. George Washington, 

113. 
Steere, Dr. David Roscoe, 113, 169. 
Stevens, John, 186, 193. 
Stewart, Joseph, 203. 
Stillman, Rev. Samuel, 163. 
Stockwell, Spencer, 147. 
Stoddard, John, 53. 
Stone, Samuel, 205. 
Stoue, Simon, 123. 
Stone, Warren Fay, 131, 133. 
Stores, old, in Groton, 162-171. 
Stoughton, Lieut.-Gov. William, 39. 
Sullivan, Hon. James, 135, 141. 
Swan, Major William, 76, 92, 136, 

170. 



rpAFT, Benjamin Franklin, 132. 
J. Tarbel, Benjamin, 172. 
Tarbell, Capt. Abel, 167. 
Tarbel], Battice, 56. 
Tarbell, John, 54. 
Tarbell, Lesor [Eleazer], 57. 
Tarbell, Loran, 56. 
Tarbell, Louis, 56. 
Tarbell, Michel, 56. 
Tarbell, Peter, 56. 
Tarbell, Samuel, 62, 160. 
Tarbell, Lieut. Solomon, 161. 
Tarbell, Thomas, 51-54, 56, 120,159, 

185. 
Tarbell, Thomas, Jr., 24, 159. 
Tarbell, William, 185. 
Tarbell, Zachariah, 54. 
Taverns, old, 183. 
Telegraph, first, 183. 
Telephone, first, 183. 
Tenny, Samuel Clark, 191. 
Thomas, Palmer, 203. 
Tilden, Charles Liuzee, 145. 
Tileston & Hollingsworth, 50, 216. 
Tinker, John, 5, 16, 22, 148. 
Titus, Rev. Herman Franklin, 89. 
Titus, Moses, 204. 
Todd, Rev. John, 81, 82, 90. 
Town Clerks, list of, 157-159. 
Township, original grant of, 2. 
Tracy Elijah, 207. 






INDEX. 



263 



Trowbridge, Rev. Caleb, 74. 
Trowbridge, Caleb, Jr., 185, 186. 
Treasurers, of Groton, 160-162. 
Trees, marking of, 20, 21. 
Trumbull, Hon. J. Hammond, 6, 7. 
Tucker, Rev. George Everett, 87. 
Tufton, Thomas Sackville, 170. 
Tufts, Levi, 194 
Tvng, Edward, 70. 
Tyng, Jonathan, 223. 



UNDERWOOD, Timothy, 203. 
Union, War for, Groton in 
the, 144-147. 



V 



ARNUM, Hon. John, 141. 
Veazie, A. M., 195. 



TT7ALDR0N, Capt. Richard, 23. 
VV Walker, Seth. 68. 
Ward, Capt. Samuel, 170. 
Ware, Dr. Ephraim, 96. 
Warren, Alden, 160, 162. 
Warren, Dr. William Barnard, 114. 
Waters, Charles Harrison, 246. 
Waters, Henry A., 147. 
Wayman, Rev John W., 13. 
Webb, Benjamin, 196. 
Webber, John, 204. 
Webber, Ward, 204 
Webster, Rev. Samuel, 142. 
Webster, Dr. William Ambrose, 

112. 
Wells, Rev. George Wads worth, 77. 
West Groton Mass., 90, 181 ; list of 

postmasters, 181. 
Wethered, John, 210. 
Wheeler, Abner, 167 
Wheeler. Eliphalet, 167, 173, 176. 
Wheeler, Levi, 203. 
Wheeler, Moses, 68. 
Wheelock, J., 200 
Wheelock. S., 200. 
Whetcomb, David, 184. 
White, Thomas, 186. 
White, William, 186. 
Whitney, Rev. Frank Curtis, 89. 



Whiton, Elijah, 209. 

Wilder, Dr Abel Hervey, 108. 

Willard, Henry, 62. 

Willard, Miriam, 67. 

Willard, Moses, 67, 68. 

Willard, Rev. Samuel, 69, 94, 118, 

218. 
Willard, Maj. Simon, 25, 118. 
Williams, Dr Jacob, 105. 
Williams, John, 53. 
Willis, Dr. Ebenezer. 115. 
Wilson, Dr. James, 105. 
Winslow, Dr. Edward Hubbard, 

113. 
Winthrop, Adam, 10. 
Winthrop, Deane, petition of, 3, 5, 

6 ; sketch of, 8, 9. 
Winthrop, Gov. Fitz-John, 10. 
Winthrop, Gov. John, 8. 
Winthrop, John, Jr., 10. 
Winthrop, Hon. Robert C, letter 

from, to Dr. Samuel A. Green, 

9. 
Wood, Artemas, 168, 173. 
Wood, Ephraim, 136. 
Woodbridge, Dudlev, 171. 
Woodcock, Henry, 173, 179. 
Woods, Benjamin, 144. 
Woods, Daniel, 60. 
Woods, Eber, Jr., 235. 
Woods, Harvey Alpheus, 182, 196. 
Woods, Gem Henry, 148, 166, 173, 

178. 
Woods, John, 154. 
Woods, Levi W , 196. 
Woods, Nathaniel, 184. 
Woods, Robert Parker, 132. 
Woods. Sampson, 92, 137. 
Woods, Samuel, 160, 184, 223. 
Woods, Thomas, 60. 
Woodward, John, 190. 
Woolley, Charles, 3, 2m 
Woolley, Charles, Jr., 170. 
Woolson,Dr Ephraim, 96, 
Wright, Abijah. 192. 
Wright, Mrs. John, 211, 
Wyman, Ensign, 63. 



TOUNG, Rev. Joshua, 80. 



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